Mysterious Familiars
by Shadow of the End
Summary: When Naruto tries to bring Sasuke back from Orochimaru's grasp, he accidently summons Karas, a mysterious & powerful entity from another dimension. NarutoKaras crossover. Naruhina,Possible Naruharem, OtohaYurine. M for Language,Violence, Blood, & Lemons.
1. The Beginning

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer:**If I owned Naruto, NaruHina would be in the first episode.

**Chapter one: The Beginning**

The blonde youth glared at the pale snake sannin with crimson slitted eyes. His whisker marks, boldened by the Youki flooding through his system, quivered as he struggled to control his most primal instincts that were telling him to rip apart the pale man in front of him. The boy snarled, showing his long, sharp teeth.

"Sasuke's going back to Konoha with me, even if I have to drag him back by force!" Naruto growled, still trying to control himself. "I made a promise that I intend to keep!"

"And what was that promise, Dobe? To lose to me again?"a cold voice came out of the shadows.

"Sasuke-teme," Naruto growled.

"Glad to see that you remember me, Dobe,"Sasuke said, stepping out of the shadows and into the light, smirking at Naruto as he watched a pink-haired girl and a lavender-eyed, indigo-haired girl struggled to restrain him. The raven-haired boy had red eyes, each with three black comma-shaped marks around the edges. He looked lustfully over the indigo-haired girl's body.

"Keep your eyes off Hinata-chan, Ero-Teme." Naruto snarled viciously.

"Come on, dobe. You know every girl in Konoha lusted after me. I'm an Uchiha; I can have whatever I want!"

"Not every girl," Naruto muttered, looking at Hinata. Sasuke's eyes hardened.

He drew his katana and started channeling a Chidori through it. Naruto narrowed his eyes as Sasuke stepped forward, placing the tip of his sword an inch from Naruto's throat.

"Tell me who didn't lust after me. Now!" Sasuke growled. Naruto chuckled.

"Let's see, there's Ino, Tenten, Hinata-chan..."Naruto spoke ten names when Sasuke decided he'd heard enough.

"Enough lies, Naruto! You're just trying to piss me off!" Sasuke shouted.

"And by the looks of things, the truth is the way to do it," Naruto smirked. "Let's face it, Sasuke-teme, the only one who really loved you was the pink-haired bitch on my left arm." Everyone but Sasuke and Sakura gasped. Sasuke merely quirked an eyebrow, while Sakura tried to crush and pulverize the bones in Naruto's arm. When Naruto didn't even twitch, she released her grip on Naruto's arm with one hand and went to beat him senseless. This turned out to be a mistake, as she was hurled headfirst into a nearby wall. Naruto's voice turned icy and venomous."Sakura, if you want to live through any more missions or encounters with me, I suggest you stop trying to harm me or tempt me to kill you." Sakura stared in shock.

"But...b-but...but..." she sputtered. Naruto grew annoyed.

"But what?" he snapped.

"But... why...? Why would you... try to kill me? Y-y-you... love me." Hinata looked heartbroken. That is, until Naruto started laughing.

Naruto laughed a dark laugh, one that made everyone think of demons and caused their hair to stand on end.

"Was my act really that convincing?" he asked.

"Naruto once confided something in me...Can I tell them, Naruto?" a boy with a pineapple-shaped haircut asked.

"Go ahead, Shikamaru. They wouldn't believe me if I told them." Naruto replied.

"Naruto once told me that he was only pretending to be dense about Hinata's feelings for him. He also told me that it killed him that he couldn't return her affection because he had...has a secret that I'm not authorized to tell you, and if he did, then not only would she become a "Demon-Whore," but the villagers would attack her just for loving him, and her family would cast her out on the streets." Shikamaru told them.

"Go ahead and tell them, Shikamaru."

"What part should I tell them?"

"Everything."

**Flashback**

_Shikamaru was at his favorite cloud-watching spot when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned his head to see Naruto standing there_,_ having some sort of internal battle with himself._

_"Well, you look like you've got something on your mind. It must be something big, for you to show it," Shikamaru said. Naruto sighed and sat next to Shikamaru, putting his head in his hands._

_"I just don't know what to do, Shikamaru. I love her, and I know she loves me, but I can't do a damn thing about it..." Naruto said, tears pouring down his face. Shikamaru perked up and sat up. Knowing Naruto, these tears meant something End-Of-My-World-And-I-Don't-Know-What-To-Do big was going on with him. Putting a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, he spoke in a reassuring manner._

_"Naruto, slow down and start from the beginning. Who's this girl, how do you know she loves you, and why can't you tell her or do anything about it? I swear on my life that I'll offer the best advice I can, and I won't tell a soul unless you allow me to." Shika said._

_"Well," Naruto started, "The girl...well, she's Hinata. I know she loves me with all her heart, and I love her just as much, if not more, but the problem is me. You know of the-"_

_"The Kyuubi is sealed inside you, I know."_

_"Wha? But, how?"_

_"I'm not stupid, Naruto. I've seen the way you're treated by the villagers. And I've heard some of the things they've said about you. Also, your birthday is on the same day as the Kyuubi festival, and nobody ever sees you there. I did a little research, and I found that the kyuubi is too strong to be killed by a mortal. So, the only alternative was to seal it into a human child."_

_"Oh... well as I was saying, if I were to reciprocate Hinata's affection, she would be branded as a "Demon-Whore" and attacked by the villagers just for loving me, and her bastard of a father would kick her out. On the other hand, if I don't tell her, I'll lose her forever." Naruto was sobbing softly now. "I love her...so much...that...it hurts...but...she'll only get hurt if I tell her and let my feelings known." Shikamaru pondered this for a moment, forcing his mind to work overtime to help his friend._

_"Well... you could tell her and keep your relationship a secret." Shikamaru offered._

_Naruto looked at him sadly. "They'll find out. I tried to keep the fact that I was pursuing Sakura a secret at first, but they came and told me that the only reason they didn't do anything to her was because her mother was on the village council and she actually cares about her daughter."_

_"Well, You could mark her as yours and tell her to wait for you until you have the villagers' respect. You know, like foxes do with their mates, except you put the mark where nobody would notice it."_

_"Shikamaru, foxes mark their mates by-"_

_"I know.Sigh"Shikamaru and Naruto sat there trying to figure out a way to let Naruto tell Hinata that he loved her and keep her safe at the same time, but with each possible solution came impossible difficulties. After awhile, Chouji came and Naruto quietly and sadly said, "Thanks for trying to help, Shikamaru. Remember your promise."_

_"I will. I promise."_

_"Thanks..."_

**Flashback end**

After this lengthy explanation, Hinata and the others were beyond shocked. Naruto had known about her feelings since before they were genin. Since the academy, for Kami's sake! And Shikamaru had known for the whole time and never told a soul, not even Chouji or his parents.

"S-s-so...he knew? H-h-he knew th-th-that I-"

"Yes, Hina-hime, but now is not the time to talk about this. Now, I made a promise, and I'm not about to make it my first broken one. Sasuke, you can come back with us peacefully, or you can make it a fight again like at the Valley of the End, but know this: if you decide to make it a fight again, I won't hold back," Naruto said. "Not this time." Sasuke just chuckled.

"You won't hold back? You gave it all you had last time." Sasuke chuckled again. "Face it, Naruto-dobe, you can't beat me."

"If I hadn't held back, you'd be dead right now, Sasuke. The Kyuubi wanted you dead. If I hadn't regained control at the last second, he would've ripped your head off. I saved your life, you ungrateful prick!"

"Stop threatening Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled. "Sasuke-kun is superior to you in every single way!"

"Not every way," Hinata said to herself, and blushed. When she noticed everyone staring at her oddly, she 'Eeped' and ran into a corner of the room. Naruto was the first to figure out what Hinata meant and chuckled.

"Hime, I didn't know you were like that. We'll have to... talk... when we get back to the village. Heh, I guess things aren't always as they seem." Naruto said.

"You can go back to Konoha, but Hinata's staying with me."

"She's going home with us."

"How about a match?" Orochimaru suggested. "If Sasuke-kun wins, Hinata shall be his wife."

"And if I win?" Naruto asked.

"You won't."

"If Naruto-kun wins, he gets to have me." Hinata said.

"For the love of Kami, people! 'And for Sasuke-teme and Orochimaru I use that term loosely.' Hinata-chan isn't an object or a prize to be won! She's a human being! I refuse to-"

"You refuse to fight for her? Then she's mine."

"She's not yours. She belongs to herself, and whoever she gives herself to. And I don't refuse to fight for her. I'd destroy Konoha before I let you get your filthy hands on her. I refuse to bring you back to Konoha conscious and in one piece...You MONSTER!" Naruto growled. "Just tell me when and where this stupid contest of strength will take place." Sasuke started making some familiar hand signs.

"Right Here, Right Now! _**Chidori!**_" Sasuke said as the sound of chirping birds filled the air. Naruto sighed as Sasuke activated his Curse Mark Level Two. Sasuke chuckled. "After I kill you, I'll have my way with Hinata. She'll bear my children, not yours!"

Shikamaru's eyes widened. "Big mistake, Sasuke. EVERYONE FALL BACK NOW!" Shikamaru screamed. Everyone stared as Naruto started radiating murderous intent.

"Naruto, if you-AUGH!" Sakura screamed as Naruto appeared in front of her, staring her down with crimson slitted eyes.

"I warned you, Sakura. Strike two. Don't get a third." Naruto said this with such silent fury that his voice trembled. Sakura, being the wuss she is, wet herself and ran towards the exit. Naruto turned around and faced Sasuke. "Alright, asshole, let's do this." Naruto said, holding out his hand and forming a Rasengan. The two shinobi charged, the clash of their jutsu creating a large purple sphere around them and concealing them from everyone.


	2. Karas

* * *

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer**:I don't own Karas either.

**A/N**: Hey, guys (and girls), I'm back with a new chap. This came out a bit faster than I expected it to, but hey, you're happy 'bout it, right? That's all that matters. As with before, I appreciate your reviews, but please, if you're gonna flame me, at least have the guts to leave your name. It irritated me to no end when some one flamed me on last chap, and I didn't know who it was. I would like to be able to respond to my readers, and I can't do that if I don't know who you are. But enough on that. I give you, Chapter 2!

Chapter Two: Karas' Introduction

"You shall see. In time, you shall walk the same path as I."

With these parting words, Eko walked around Otoha and toward the end of the bridge they were standing on,where Yurine stood not twenty feet away.

"Yu...Ri...Ne..." Eko's dying scream echoed throughout Shinjuku as he disappeared in a pillar of black feathers(wierd way to die, huh?).

100 Years Later

Everything was going normally in Tokyo. After Eko, the former Karas, or guardian crow, betrayed the city and killed off most of the humans, it had become nearly deserted in the province of Shinjuku. However, the new Karas Otoha arrived in the nick of time and, with the assistance of a Karas from another city, defeated Eko and restored peace to the city. At this point, the people of Shinjuku were now celebrating what was now known as 'Karas Day' in honor of Otoha's selfless and heroic victory.

"So beautiful," said Yurine, Otoha's partner/master, and the spirit of Shinjuku, while eyeing the decorations.

Yeah, it is, isn't it," Otoha responded. He knelt on the building they were on top of. His night-black trench coat flapped in the wind. He stole a glance at Yurine, and saw her gazing intently at him. They gazed at each other for a few moments before turning quickly away, looking at the festivities with small smiles and slight blushes on their faces. 'She's so beautiful,' Otoha thought. The past century had been kind to both Otoha and Yurine. Otoha, being a spirit, and the Karas of Tokyo, retained his youthful appearance. Yurine, being the spirit of the city, matured into a beautiful young woman in her early twenties and aged no further. Unknown to Otoha, she was thinking the same thought as him about him. 'He's so cute. I'm glad he's my Karas.'

"Yurine..." Otoha's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Yes...Otoha?"

"You were staring at me again. Is there something you wish to-" BOOM! An explosion in the easternmost sector of Shinjuku rocked the entire province. Yurine and Otoha watched as everyone froze, then looked at each other again. They both nodded to each other and vanished.

"A Mikura!" Yurine cried out as she and Otoha appeared on the scene. "Are you ready, Otoha-kun?" Yurine said, then blushed, hoping that Otoha had missed the added suffix. Unfortunately for her, he hadn't.

"So you do have feelings for me. That's good. Well, let's do this!" Otoha said, looking at the Mikura as Yurine began to count. He got into a battle stance as he looked the Mikura up and down. It was at least 15 feet in height,with large spikes coming out of its back. Its hands were large, and had three clawed fingers, each ten inches long. Its six arms measured at five feet and six inches long, and were thick and bulky. The Mikura's face was built into its chest, its three red eyes in a triangle formation. It had the mouth of a moth-a long, thin tube curled into a spiral. Its voice was deep, and sounded much like a blender. "Come, Karas! I so long for a taste of your blood!" The Mikura said excitedly.

"Ichi (One)...Ni (Two)...Mi (Three)...Shi (Four)...Go (Five)...Mu (Six)...Shichi (Seven) ...Ya (Eight)...Kyuu (Nine)...And It Is Juu (Ten.) Sway, To And Fro, Sway! Show Me Now, If Your Power Is The Real Thing." Yurine drew her index and middle fingers across her throat, then pointed them at the robotic and monstrous Mikura. "Do It Now, Karas!" She cried.

"Yes!" Otoha said, holding up a strange looking pocket watch. The face of the clock retracted, revealing an eye which blinked twice and emitted a golden glow, which spread over Otoha, transforming him into his armored form. (See profile for a link to a pic if you don't know what Otoha's armored form looks like.) "Let's do this!" Otoha said, dropping back into his battle stance. The Mikura roared its approval, making the windows of the buildings around them shatter. "Finally, I can rid the worlds of the one who has upset the balance! Prepare to die, you thrice damned crow!" the mikura roared, firing several bolts of energy at Karas. Karas easily deflected them, then threw his sword and made a few hand signs. The Mikura lunged as the one sword became two, and shot towards the Mikura. They sheared off the top pair of arms, but the Mikura kept going, intent on ending Karas' life. Karas dodged the first and second passes of the Mikura, but was unable to avoid a glancing blow from the Mikura's claws on the third pass. Karas, however, being numb to pain and fear from the time of his human birth, didn't even flinch as the serrated edge of the Mikura's claws dragged across his torso. The Mikura gave what passed for a smile, then stood, shocked, as Karas stood back up, unphased by the fact that he had just been sent flying down the street. "Time to end this stupid game," he said, as he froze time and launched himself at the frozen, helpless Mikura. When Karas restarted time, the Mikura's dying screams echoed throughout all of Tokyo.

"Well, that was fun... sort of." Karas said happily. "I'm starting to enjoy this!" Yurine smiled.

"Just make sure you don't turn out like Eko, Otoha-kun. I don't want to lose you." She said.

"No problem, Yurine-chan. I don't want to lose you either. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you." Otoha dispelled his armor as he spoke, and whispered the last sentence to himself. He looked nervously at Yurine. He thought, 'How did this happen? This feeling... It's been happening so much now it's unbearable! What is it? I feel like I'd do anything to make her happy, and I don't want to ever be without her... What is this feeling? Wait... Could it be... love?'

Yurine looked at Otoha and saw him deep in nervous thought. She thought, 'What's wrong, Otoha-kun? I so wish you would tell me. You've looked so... troubled lately. Why won't you let me in? Why won't you at least tell me what it's about?'

Both of them were so deep in thought that neither of them noticed the large purple sphere forming around them, concealing them from all the onlookers. When it dissipated, they were gone.

A/N:So, there you go! As with last chap, tell me how I did and what I can do better. I know the fight scene sucked, but it was my first one, and next chap will have a better one. Also, I got an interesting idea from someone last chap. Should I make the Harem with Kurenai, Fem. Kyuubi, Anko, and Temari, alongside Hinata? If not, Tell me who you want with Naru in the Harem. Please Note: I won't put Yurine in the Harem. She is in love with Otoha, and I'm not about to change that...Sorry:( Oh, and reread last chap if you read it before the 5th of July. Turns out it didn't fully upload...Oops...


	3. Release

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Chapter 3: Release**

**Disclaimer: Dammit! Masashi refused to give me the rights to Naruto!**

**A/N:**I'd like to thank those of you who have stuck with me this far. It's really encouraging to see that so many people like my writing.Also, here are the results for my poll this far:

Anko: 5

Kurenai: 3

Yugito: 2

Yugao: 1

Fem. Kyuubi: 5

Fem. Haku: 1

Konan(Don't quite know how I'd make it work...): 1

Sasame: 1

Haruna: 1

Nibi: 1

Temari: 4

Yukie(Yuki): 2

Hana: 1

Yurine(I know I said I wouldn't do this, but someone brought up a really good way for me to do it!) : 1

Tsunade: 1

Hanabi: 1

Shizune: 2

Tenten: 1

Ino: 1

There you go. There are all the candidates so far. Please note that I didn't include Hinata because she'll be in the harem regardless of the poll results. And so, without further ado, let Chapter 3 begin!

* * *

The purple sphere around Naruto and Sasuke collapsed, blowing everyone but the two fighters off their feet. Sasuke smirked.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you. I wonder, though, if she's a screamer? I guess I'll find out soon enough, eh?" Sasuke said. Hinata's eye twitched. _'I'll kill him if Naruto-kun doesn't!'_ she thought.

"I'm not going to let you touch her! I'll destroy Konoha before you get your filthy hands on her! I won't hold back this time, you monstrous bastard!" Naruto charged at Sasuke, throwing a left hook. Sasuke blocked it, and using Naruto's momentum against him, threw him at the wall behind himself. Naruto flipped, landing on his feet on the wall. He shifted one foot, and launched himself off the wall almost too fast for Sasuke's Sharingan to track. Sasuke braced himself and brought his arms up to block a punch or kick. Naruto saw this and smirked. Sasuke realized far too late that a punch or kick wasn't what Naruto was going for. Naruto full-on body slammed Sasuke, sending him flying.

_**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_ Four more Narutos appeared. The original looked at them. "...Let's go." Five orange clad blurs launched themselves at the red eyed ninja when a pink blur caused four of them to disappear in clouds of smoke. "Sakura..." the remaining blonde growled.

"Yes, Naruto-baka?" Sakura replied in a sickeningly sweet voice. Naruto shot forward and under her guard and embedded a clawed hand in her gut. Blood flew and splattered all over the walls and the room's other occupants. Naruto leaned forward so that his face was an inch from Sakura's.

"Strike... Three!" he breathed.

"Fuck... you... Naruto... teme!" Sakura said. She fell when Naruto removed his hand, and started to heal herself. Naruto kicked her up into the air, and then launched her at the rest of the Konoha 11.

"Hey, Teme!"

"What, Dobe?" Sasuke said back.

Naruto smirked before replying."You know, if I hadn't held back at the Valley of the End, you'd have been dead before the third punch was thrown, right?" Naruto's smirk was replaced by a serious expression. "The true reason I was having trouble defeating you was because I was holding back my true power; I pulled my punches so as to just break, and not shatter, bones. I used only my Kage Bunshin and Rasengan to keep your body as intact as possible. And until you broke my neck and impaled me with that Kami-damned chidori of yours," Sasuke frowned at this while everyone else was shocked- even with the Kyuubi no Youko's help, Naruto should have been dead before the Kyuubi's chakra could heal him- why hadn't he been?, "I refrained from using the Kyuubi's influence too much." Naruto finished. This was when Kakashi piped up.

"Naruto, you said that you had to regain control. That means that after you were impaled, the Kyuubi took over, right?" Naruto nodded stiffly, knowing what Kakashi was about to ask. Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Then how do we know that the Kyuubi isn't still in control?"

Naruto started drawing on the Kyuubi's essence, changing his appearance into a more feral look.

"If the Kyuubi was still in control, I would: A) look like this, 24/7; B) I would have slaughtered everyone in Konoha; and C) the Kyuubi probably would have raped Hina-tenshi and then killed her, just to see me suffer." Naruto calmly explained, while thinking, 'I know she probably wouldn't do the raping, but I gotta make this believable.'

**"Thank you."**

'No problem... just don't torture me at night anymore!'

**"Aww, you know you love me."**

'Maybe I do, but I hate the constant nightly cross-country marathons!'

Meanwhile, Sasuke was furious at being ignored. "Stop ignoring me!" he screamed. "Stop ignoring me and-" WHAM! Naruto vanished, suddenly appearing behind Sasuke and slammed a fist into the back of Sasuke's skull with the force of a sledgehammer. Stars exploded in Sasuke's vision and he gasped in pain. Naruto followed with a roundhouse kick to the side of Sasuke's head. Sasuke smirked and retaliated by grabbing Naruto's foot and sending a foot towards Naruto's crotch. Naruto caught it (much to Hinata's relief...hehe) and snapped a straight arm punch at Sasuke's face. Sasuke's head snapped back with such force from Naruto's punch that it nearly snapped his neck. Naruto grinned.

"Guess the Sharingan is not as perfect as everyone makes it out to be, eh, Sasuke?"

"Tojikomeru, Mayaku! That was just a lucky hit!" Sasuke snarled back.

"Then let's see just how lucky I am!" Naruto launched into a flurry of punches and kicks, half of which Sasuke blocked. Naruto then swept up in a spinning roundhouse kick. Sasuke ducked under it, making Naruto smirk. Naruto continued with his spin, this time ducking and going into a low sweep kick, which Sasuke also dodged, jumping into the air. Naruto's smile only grew.

"What are you smiling at, Dobe?" Sasuke sneered. Naruto did a backflip, lashing out with his foot and catching Sasuke in the chin. As Sasuke flew backwards, Naruto tossed a few kunai with exploding tags behind him, which exploded, throwing him forward on a collision course with Naruto's fist. Using chakra to enhance his strength, Naruto punched Sasuke in the gut then released the built up chakra all at once. "_**Senkou Bakuretsu**_!" Sasuke flew into the far wall.

"Still think I'm just lucky, Teme?" Naruto said as he smirked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do." Sasuke said in a tone filled with arrogant defiance as he climbed out of the hole in the wall. Naruto smiled, not letting his annoyance show. 'That arrogant teme!' Naruto thought. 'I'll probably wind up killing this jackass! Not that anyone but Sakura would truly care...' Suddenly he noticed a chakra signature creeping up behind him.

Still smiling, and never once taking his eyes off of Sasuke, he said, "Hebi-teme, if you want the Sound village to continue to exist, I suggest that you stop right there."

"You're bluffing. You don't have the chakra levels or the control to take out an entire village full of shinobi! If you don't watch your mouth, I'll have the new Sound Five destroy you!"Orochimaru fumed.

"Naruto's MINE, Orochimaru! I thought we agreed on that!" the avenger growled stiffly.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun, forgive me, I forgot."

"Hmph," was Sasuke's reply.Naruto sighed.

"Dissention in the Sound. How sad." Naruto said as he charged another Rasengan. Sasuke saw this and charged another Kuroi Chidori. "Teme, why don't you swallow that damned ridiculous Uchiha pride of yours and admit that you will never beat Itachi on your own? He was Anbu before he was thirteen, and-" BZZZZARRRP! Sasuke, visibly enraged, charged at Naruto and tried to ram his Kuroi Chidori into his chest, but a blur appeared in front of him.

"Get out of my way, or I'll kill you as well!" Sasuke roared. It was only after he had rammed his Chidori into the person's stomach that he realized...

"Hinata!?"

"You bastard!" Naruto screamed, kicking Sasuke away from Hinata and catching her as she fell. "Hinata-chan, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry that I didn't act sooner. You surprised me, and I-I-I froze... and..." Naruto dissolved into tears. Hinata weakly raised her hand and caressed his whiskered cheek.

"Naruto...Kun... I can't... not forgive you..." she breathed. "At least... I can die knowing... that my love... for you... was returned... in equal measure..." she said as she coughed up some blood.

"Don't you die on me, Hinata! Please, don't die! I can't lose you! I won't! Sakura! Get over here!"

"Naruto, she isn't in any condition to heal anyone." Ino said.

"Ino, then!"

"I'm exhausted from healing Sakura's wound, Naruto. Which, might I say, she totally deserved."

"Take a soldier pill!"

"Even if I did, naruto, the fact of the matter is that Hinata's stomach is gone. Even with all of our soldier pills, I wouldn't be able to regenerate it. I'm sorry, Naruto, but... She's done for."

"There's gotta be _something_ that _someone_ can do!" Naruto said desperately.

"I'm sorry... Naruto." Kakashi said.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" Naruto felt Hinata go limp in his arms, and he tilted his head back, screaming his pain to the Heavens.

"Hmph. So she was weak. I have no need for a weak bitch like her."

Naruto, who had started to cry into Hinata's neck, twitched an ear when he heard that.

"You... you bastard..." Naruto started to glow red. "You killed her..." Angry red chakra began swirling around Naruto and Hinata, quickly creating a maelstrom of power around them. No one noticed that some of the chakra was disappearing into Hinata's limp form. "And you feel no remorse? None at all? Sasuke?"

"Hmmm... Nope." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto released a demonic roar as the maelstrom contracted, becoming a pillar and obscuring Naruto's changing form from sight.

* * *

Naruto's Mindscape

Deep within the seal,a woman with nine long, crimson tails saw what had happened, and knew what was happening to Naruto. She watched as the lights started to flicker, and cracks formed in the walls.

"He's going insane..." she murmured. "Because...he lost her..." Kyuubi remained stoic for all of five more seconds before breaking down into tears. "Naruto... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry!" She whispered.

* * *

Outside Naruto's Mind

Everyone cautiously watched the swirling pillar of chakra, expecting the worst. However, it was still a surprise when Naruto blasted out, shooting towards Sasuke with a clawed hand drawn back and ready to strike, killing intent visible in his very chakra.

"I'll slaughter you like the pig you are!" Naruto snarled in a demonic voice. Sasuke was barely able to bring his sword up in time to block Naruto's attack. Naruto's hand was impaled to the center of the hand on Sasuke's blade with the sickening sound of tearing flesh. Naruto growled, and everyone stared as he twisted his hand, tearing flesh and snapping bones, all injuries healing instantly as he gripped Sasuke's blade and threw it across the room. '_Shit!' _Sasuke thought. _'I'll not lose to him, dammit!' _He made a series of handsigns and took a deep breath. "_**Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!**_"Sasuke spat out a wave of mid sized fireballs in Naruto's direction. Naruto merely cackled insanely as they impacted his upper body, burning off his jacket and shirt, revealing a scarred, well toned body.

"Is that the best you've got? C'mon, Sasuke, you were a greater challenge at the hospital! And I was even holding back then!" Naruto cackled again. 'I think he's lost it!' Shikamaru thought, his eyes widening. Sasuke growled again.

"You want my best? Then try this!" Sasuke said, charging yet another Chidori.

Naruto looked at him disdainfully. "_That's _your best? I'll show you better." Naruto charged an Oodama Rasengan, then compressed it to the size of a marble. Then, keeping it compressed, he charged it to full size. "Die, you bastard!" Naruto screamed as he charged Sasuke. Again, Sasuke's reflexes barely saved him, as a supercharged Oodama Rasengan clashed with a Chidori. And once again, a purple dome appeared around them.

* * *

Otoha and Yurine were floating. They were confused as well. 'Where are we?' they both thought. The two were surrounded by pitch black darkness. Suddenly, a light appeared, glowing faintly at first, then gradually growing brighter and brighter, until it eventually consumed the darkness, and revealed two oddly dressed teenage boys with their hands outstretched towards each other. In between their outstretched hands was the source of the light. Yurine sensed the desperate fury and sadness in the orange clad blonde and said, "Go, Karas!"

"Which one?" Otoha replied, looking back and forth between the two teens.

"Attack the raven haired one!" Yurine quickly told him.

"No!" the blonde shouted. "He's... He's mine!" A single, solitary tear made its way down his cheek as the light imploded and blew the four away from each other. The two adolescents charged each other once more, trading chest and body blows. The blonde jumped away and put his hands in a strange sign, yelling, "_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_" Instantly, ten clones of him appeared, surrounding the black haired teen.

"Naruto, when will you learn? Quantity doesn't make up for quality, you'll still lose!" the red eyed teen said.

"Dammit, Sasuke! Is revenge really so important to you that you had to kill one of your friends?!" the one known as Naruto cried out as a clone snuck up behind the other teen. Sasuke whipped around and lodged a kunai into the clone's neck, causing Naruto to grin sadistically. The clone glowed for a moment before exploding. "I'll show you true power! The power you get by protecting people!" Naruto yelled as he punched Sasuke back towards the clones, one of whom exploded, sending Sasuke back towards the original Naruto, who punched him at the clones again. This process repeated until the last clone exploded as the original charged a Rasen Shuriken. "Die, you bastard! Die and go to hell! I, container of the Kyuubi no Youko, Lord of the Fire Hell, most powerful of the Bijuu, condemn you to burn for all eternity in the Fire Hell! Your sins will never be absolved!" Naruto screamed as he thrust the large shuriken towards the rapidly approaching Sasuke.

"Naruto, you promised Sakura you'd bring him back!" Ino yelled at Naruto.

"I never said what state he'd be in!" Naruto yelled back, a crazed look reminiscent of Gaara's former "I'm going to kill you and enjoy every moment of it" look on his face.

'Oh no,' Shikamaru thought as his eyes widened, 'He really has lost it! He's snapped!'

"Everyone, vacate the premises! Jiraiya, Kakashi! Help me stop him!" Shikamaru yelled. Everyone but Shikamaru, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Otoha, and Yurine ran out of the chamber. Naruto continued to pummel the now barely conscious Sasuke until, suddenly, he froze.

"Kagemane no Jutsu, Success."

"Shikamaru..." Naruto growled.

"Naruto, I'm going to be dead honest with you. I don't know how you're feeling right now. And frankly, I don't want to know. But you can't let those feelings control you." Naruto whirled on Shikamaru, breaking the Kagemane No Jutsu, as the Demon Fox Cloak formed around him with a single tail. Shikamaru tensed, expecting him to attack.

"Why, Shikamaru?" Shikamaru blinked in confusion. "Why did she have to die? Am I... Am I destined to be alone all my life?" Naruto asked, tears pouring down his face. "Am I... never to know the love of another?"

"You knew Hinata's love." Shikamaru pointed out. Naruto closed his eyes and stumbled over to Hinata.

"I knew about her love... but..." he choked back a sob. "I never really knew it. I'm such a fool! I should've done something, anything, more for her, but now... Now, I'll never hear her voice again. I'll never be able to tell her how much I love her. And we'll never be able to raise the family we always wanted..." Naruto slowly rose and pulled out a kunai. He turned around. "I'm... sorry, guys... But-" Jiraiya quickly slapped a chakra suppression seal onto Naruto's forehead. The last thing Naruto heard before slipping into unconsciousness was Jiraiya saying,

"Please forgive me, Naruto. I can't let you harm Konoha."

* * *

Sorry this took so long to get out. I had writer's block, so I spent my time trying to think up half of this chap in front of Devil May Cry 4. But yeah, Hinata's gonna be back, so relax, dear readers. To tell the truth, I almost cried when I realized that I had to kill her to get the story to go the way I wanted it to. But again, don't worry. She'll be back veeeeery soon. (Evil Laugh) Sorry, had to get that out of my system. So yeah, as always, R&R!

* * *


	4. Revival

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto; sadly chances are that I never will...

**Chapter Four: Revival**

"What the hell did you just do?!" Otoha demanded as he launched himself at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya blocked Otoha's katana with a kunai. "Relax, it's just a temporary chakra suppression seal. He should awaken in about an hour or so." Jiraiya calmly explained. Otoha growled.

"I understand temporary and suppression, but what's chakra? And what kind of seal are we talking about? Explain yourself now!" Otoha said.

"You're kidding, right?" Jiraiya said. "You really don't know what chakra is?"

"No. Should we?" Otoha replied. Jiraiya looked around at the other Konoha nins and saw that they were all thinking the same thing. 'Is this guy for real?'

"Chakra is... well, it's a blend of physical and mental energies. For the most part, only ninja are trained in its use." Kakashi said. "Therefore, only ninja can use Jutsu."

"So, chakra is just a complex form of energy?" Otoha said.

"Yes."

"Okay, now explain the seal."

"Well, like i said, it's temporary. It nearly stops his chakra flow, so that he loses consciousness. This one is specially designed to stop the flow of chakra from his second source, which makes him unique in that most other people only have one source of chakra."

"Is it in his family to have two sources of... chakra?" Otoha asked.

"No."

"Hmmm... How many other people have two sources of chakra in the world?"

"Only up to eight."

Otoha nodded; he felt he was getting closer to solving this puzzle. "Do these eight other people live around Konoha?"

"No. They live in various other villages."

"Okay... "

"Not that I'm complaining, but why are you trying to figure out Naruto's mystery?"

"That pained look in his eyes... I've seen it before... in one of my friends, who died over a century ago..." The Konoha nins looked shocked, "Back when I was still human, and not a Karas."

"So is a Karas some kind of immortal, ageless warrior?" Kurenai asked. Otoha chuckled lightly.

"Immortal? Hell no. We can still be killed. It's just extremely difficult as we are all very skilled with the sword, and we have many ways to attack. But ageless, we're... something like that..." he said.

"What do you mean? That's physically impossible, isn't it?" Shikamaru said.

Otoha and Yurine looked at each other, then smirked. "We're not bound by the laws of the living." Otoha said. Seeing the shinobis' shocked faces he explained. "I'm a spirit. Yurine-chan was the spirit of my city ... until we were transported here, that is... wherever here is." He turned towards Jiraiya, who was trying to go to Naruto again. "Hold it right there! You still need to answer some more questions. Why did you put that seal on... er, what's the blonde's name again?"

"Naruto." Kakashi supplied.

"Thanks. Why did you put that seal on Naruto?"

Jiraiya sighed and looked down at Naruto with a sad smile. "Knowing him, he's the very definition of devastated right now. You saw him yourself. He was about to either kill himself or go on a rampage with that kunai. When he wakes, he'll probably try to kill himself in some way or another. Worst case scenario, he releases the seal holding the Kyuubi within him before dying. Either way, his death will be disastrous for Konoha, whether they like it or not, be it from old age or from battle, which is highly unlikely."

"Why will his death be disastrous for Konoha?"

"Whether he or they realize it or not, we'll lose our greatest warrior. He's the ultimate fighting machine, yet he still has emotion. He never tires, he heals at an insane rate, and he packs a huge punch. If... if it weren't for him, Konoha wouldn't exist anymore."

"Why not? Surely this Konoha person could fight off a common assassin?" Yurine said.

"Konoha is a strange name for a person." Otoha said under his breath, not wanting to offend these people.

Jiraiya merely gawked, Kakashi's visible eye widened and he looked up from his book, Kurenai and Asuma looked at each other, Gai started crying, and Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome..."

"Y-y-you! You've never heard of Konohagakure no Sato!" Jiraiya said, aghast.

"Should we have?" Otoha asked.

"We're only the greatest of the Ninja Villages!"

"Could you take us there? We'd like to check on something." Yurine said.

"Of course you can come with us! We'll even get you an audience with the Hokage." Kakashi said with a half-hearted eye smile. Seeing Otoha and Yurine's confused looks, he explained. "The Hokage is our village's leader." Otoha and Yurine said, "Ah" and nodded their understanding. "Well, let's get these three out of here." Otoha beat the others to Naruto and picked him up and put him on his back as Yurine turned towards Hinata. She gasped and froze in shock. Otoha whirled around, katana out and ready to attack, with Naruto on his back.

"What's wrong, Yurine?!" Yurine shakily raised an arm and pointed, not trusting her voice. Every one looked and their jaws dropped. "D-d-d-didn't she just have a hole in her stomach two seconds ago?" Otoha managed. No one could answer. They had a good reason to be speechless, as well. There she was, lying in a pool of her own blood. There was a rather large hole in the stomach of her shirt and jacket, and blood drenched her clothes. But what had everyone shocked speechless... was that _her stomach was not gone_. Where there should have been a fist-sized hole in her stomach, there was smooth, pale skin. It looked, should you take away the fact that there was a hole in her shirt, and that she was drenched in blood, that she was just sleeping.

"Impossible..." Jiraiya murmured. "Is she a Jinchuuriki too? That would explain it."

"Huh? A... Jinchuuriki? What's that?" Otoha asked.

"Jinchuuriki: Power of Human Sacrifice; Containers of the Nine Great Bijuu." Kakashi answered.

"Umm, what's a Bijuu?"

"A Bijuu is a tailed demon. There are nine in all, the weakest, the Ichibi, having only one tail, and the strongest, the Kyuubi, having nine. The Kyuubi is the one that Naruto carries. Each Bijuu is twice as powerful as the one that came before it. So the Nibi, or Two-tailed Cat, is twice as strong as the Ichibi, the One-tailed Tanuki; the Sanbi, twice as powerful as the Nibi, and so on, and so forth, all the way up to the Kyuubi."

"So to make things simple, the Kyuubi is exponentially stronger than any of the other eight? So Naruto is the most powerful being in this world?" Yurine said.

"Err... why would you say that?" Asuma asked.

"From what we've been told, Naruto has almost limitless energy on his own, he has two sources of nearly limitless energy to draw upon, and from my analysis of his body, he's capable of tearing apart a ten-foot thick steel wall with his bare hands. He also has the power of the most powerful being in this world at his disposal, thus making him the most powerful being in this world." Yurine ticked off these facts as she spoke. The Konoha shinobi mulled this over and nodded.

"I guess you're right. He is the most powerful being in this world." Jiraiya said proudly. Otoha closed his eyes and stood stock still. "What's he doing?"

Yurine looked at Otoha. "He's observing Naruto-sama's memories. It's a technique that he developed in his free time, to use against the Mikura. Mikura are demons who have forsaken their world and become robotic monsters." Otoha's eyes snapped open, blazing with suppressed fury.

"Yurine." he said stiffly.

"What's wrong, Otoha-kun?"

"I wish to kill them." Everyone but Yurine paled at this. "All of them."

"Why?"

"This is him."

"The one whose reincarnation you have been searching for?"

"Yes. This is Reiji. And everyone in this room has wronged him horribly at some time or another in his lifetime here."

"Ummm, Otoha-san, please... rethink this. You don't know for sure if Naruto is your friend from a century ago. His spirit could still be with Kami or Shinigami, waiting for another chance." Kurenai pleaded, terrified. Otoha turned his glare on her, silencing her.

"Perhaps you didn't hear Yurine. Perhaps she didn't fully explain to you the intricacies of my technique. I can look through _all_ of his memories- even the ones that he, himself doesn't have access to- just by concentrating on a certain part of his mind. He _is_ my friend. And I don't take kindly to people distracting my friends, so that they can slash their throats!" Otoha turned towards Kakashi. "Or, people who shove balls of lightning through my friends' chests." He turned this time to Gai. "Nor do I take kindly to people threatening shopkeepers, in order to keep him from buying the things they need!" Otoha's eyes were starting to quite literally glow with anger at this point, as he turned towards Asuma. "People who test out new attacks on people for no reason other than the fact that they have a demon inside them are also on my hit list." Finally, Otoha turned to Shikamaru, who, like all the other living, conscious people in the room, was shaking in terror and having trouble drawing breath from the amount of killing intent being radiated by Otoha. "And so are people who paralyze my friends in order for others to attack them with impunity. You, however, have tried to redeem yourself, so for that, I will let you live. But you," Otoha said, not even glancing at Jiraiya, "your fate shall be determined by Yurine. You sicken me. You, his godfather in this life, were nowhere to be found. Where were you when he needed you most? Well? Where were you? ANSWER ME!" Otoha roared.

"I... I was..." Jiraiya struggled to speak.

"Don't lie to me, or I will cut you down where you stand." Otoha warned Jiraiya.

"I was... I was tracking a traitor to the village!" Jiraiya gasped out. Otoha glared at him.

"Instead of fulfilling your duty as his godfather? You are a coward!"

They were interrupted by a still unconscious Naruto muttering, "Hinata... please... come back... I need you... I love you..."

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle. "He really does love her. He doesn't just love her, though, he's got it bad. It's no wonder he went insane when he thought she died. She must have been his last link to sanity." He mused. "With her out of the picture, he probably would've wound up like Gaara a long time ago." Jiraiya shuddered at the thought. "Ummm, let's- DAMMIT!" Kakashi cursed. Sasuke and Orochimaru were gone, and carved into the wall were the words, "The Snake Lives on, To Lead The Coming Storm!" Kakashi read this message out loud, then cursed again.

Naruto stirred, baring his fangs and murmuring, "Curse you... Hebi-teme... it's your fault she's gone..." Suddenly, the seal on his forehead burned away. Jiraiya was terrified.

"W-w-what?! B-but, how?! That was one of my best suppression seals that I designed specifically for him! It's supposed to last at least an hour!"

"Maybe you made a mistake?"

"Maybe... but it was still supposed to-" Naruto growled, interrupting him. "You! Let him go! Quickly!"

Otoha was confused. "Why?" Naruto woke and threw Otoha to the ground. He pounced, landing on a shocked Otoha and rearing his hand back to strike. Kurenai quickly put him in a Genjutsu, while the other jounin senseis moved to pry Naruto off of Otoha. It seemed, however, that Naruto had other plans. With a loud roar, he violently flared his chakra, in the process breaking the Genjutsu and blowing everyone away. He looked around, a pained look on his face. When his eyes landed on Hinata, his pained look turned to rage. He looked around again, this time with a murderous look in his eyes. When his sight landed on Kurenai, his eyes hardened and he began to stalk forward. The Jounin, Shikamaru, and Yurine squirmed uncomfortably as Otoha placed himself between Naruto and Yurine, and Jiraiya looked for another suppression seal.

"Uh, Kurenai?" Asuma asked nervously.

"Y-Y-Yes?"

"What happened in that Genjutsu of yours?"

"I was going to let him see Hinata and then pummel Sasuke and kill Orochimaru." Kurenai said, then realized her mistake and started sweating, as did every other living person in the room.

"You... do realize that that stunt you just pulled, he's taken that as an insult... right?" Suddenly Naruto was encased in sand. "Gaara!"

"What happened? Why is he acting as I used to?" The redhead said in his monotonous, robotic voice. He added some killing intent to his next question. "What have you done to Uzumaki Naruto?"

"It wasn't us! It was the Uchiha!"

"Then why is he attacking you?" Gaara deadpanned.

"The Uchiha killed Hinata, thereby severing his last link to sanity." Shikamaru said. "We were trying to calm him, but _somebody_," he shot a glare at Kurenai, "got the bright idea to put him in a Genjutsu where he saw Hinata. The rest is history." Naruto roared, another tail forming within the sand.

"WHERE ARE THEY!! I'LL KILL THOSE BASTARDS FOR KILLING HINATA!" As Naruto continued to struggle, the sand gradually constricted around him, tightening its hold until he couldn't even twitch a finger. "Let me go, Gaara!" Naruto demanded. "Let me go so I can kill those bastards!"

"Calm down, Uzumaki Naruto! I won't release you until you do!"

Naruto's mood took a complete 180. The Demon Fox's Cloak slowly faded away, leaving him drained, exhausted, and devastated. "But Sasuke killed her, Gaara!" A single tear ran down Naruto's cheek. "He killed Hinata..." Naruto whimpered, head bowed in submission. Gaara was shocked. "I could have saved her, but I was too weak..." A tendril of sand suddenly smacked Naruto across the face.

Naruto didn't respond, which surprised everyone.

"What happened to the Uzumaki Naruto who taught me to protect others? The one who taught me that a life lived for others is worth living? The Uzumaki Naruto who worked hard and never gave up?" Gaara shot off these questions one after another.

"He's... dead inside." Everyone gasped except Gaara, who merely nodded in understanding of Naruto's feelings.

"I understand. I felt the same way when I found that my uncle hated me." Gaara said. He released Naruto, allowing him to go to Hinata and pick her up, not noticing that her wound had healed.

"Let's get her back to Konoha; give her a proper burial."

"Naruto, wait!" Kurenai said. Naruto turned around, holding Hinata bridal style, and looked at Kurenai with dead, lifeless eyes.

"What now, Kurenai-san?" he said, his voice cold and lifeless as well. Kurenai flinched at the sound of his voice.

"Naruto, look at her stomach. You'll like what you see." she said.

Naruto did as Kurenai suggested and looked at Hinata's stomach. He was shocked to see smooth, pale skin instead of a gaping hole. He stared in shock for a few moments, then a smile broke out on his face.

"She... she's alive... I can hardly believe it..." he murmured. Naruto checked Hinata's pulse, and was pleased to find that it was strong. Faint, maybe, but strong, none the less. Naruto started to shed tears of joy.

"I can't believe this! She's alive, she's actually alive!" He looked down at her face, still smiling, and quietly said, "I can't wait until she awakens. We've got so much catching up to do." Hinata stirred the moment he said this, and slowly opened her eyes, which were unfocused and unseeing.

"It's... it's so dark... w-w-why can't I see anything? W-w-where am I? I-I-I'm so s-s-scared!" She spoke quietly, still hanging limply in Naruto's arms. Her face showed her panic as her unseeing eyes darted back and forth. Naruto moved to calm and comfort her.

"Hina-tenshi, calm down." If possible, Hinata became even more panicked.

"Wh-wh-who are y-you? W-w-where are we? A-and h-how do you kn-kn-know my n-n-name?"

"I'll answer your questions in order. I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Hinata's eyes widened slightly, "We're in the Sound Village, Otogakure," Hinata's eyes widened even more, "And I know your name because we went to the Academy together, and... I love you."

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered. "We... we are still alive... right?"

"Yeah," Naruto whispered soothingly. "We both are." Tears started welling up in Hinata's eyes.

"N-N-Naruto-kun!" She said as tears started running down her face. I-I-I'm s-s-so s-sorry! I-I w-w-was u-useless! I-"

Naruto said, "Hush now, Hina-tenshi. We all know that's not true." Hinata looked confused.

"All?"

"All, as in, the Konoha 11, our Jounin senseis, and Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto replied. "Now hold still while I see if I can restore your sight." Hinata nodded weakly as Naruto gently laid her on the ground. Naruto then zoomed in on her eyes using his chakra and saw that the jolt of electricity had misaligned and fried her optical nerves. "Hina-tenshi, this might hurt some," he warned her. "Try not to move your head, okay?" Hinata merely nodded, signifying that she was ready. "Alright, here goes." Naruto started gently and gradually moving Hinata's nerve back into position.

'_Tenshi-chan..._' Naruto thought as he worked.

'_I wish I could give you..._'

Naruto continued to realign the nerve.

'_The world..._'

The nerve was halfway there.

'_But all I can give you..._'

Naruto kept concentrating.

'_Is my heart..._'

The nerve was nearly there.

'_My love..._'

Naruto reconnected the nerve, made sure it was securely in place, and made sure it wasn't twisted.

'_And your sight back._'

Naruto shot a miniscule amount of the Kyuubi's chakra through Hinata's newly realigned optical nerve, healing it and reattaching it to her eye.

* * *

The Jounin were worried. None of them knew anything about sight-restorative medical jutsu, and they were sure that Naruto didn't, either.

Until now.

Naruto, living up to his reputation as the #1 unpredictable ninja of Konoha, suddenly comes out with a new medical jutsu capable of restoring a person's sight! Naruto, of all people! _Naruto!_

However, when Hinata smiled and gasped, "I can see again!" all doubts were erased.

"Naruto? When did you learn that technique?" Jiraiya asked, erasing any possibility that it was him that taught it to Naruto.

"I developed it on my own a few years ago," he replied, as he hugged Hinata. "Are you OK, Hinata?"

"It still hurts a little, but yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata responded.

Naruto sighed. "That was just one eye, though, Hinata-chan. We've still got one more to go." Hinata smiled and nodded, letting Naruto lay her back down as Kiba burst back into the room.

"Hinata! What are you doing to her, you bastard?! Stop desecrating her!" Kiba hollered at Naruto.

"Kiba," Naruto said as Kurenai restrained him. "Shut up. I'm restoring her sight."

"How can you do that if she's... if she's..."

"She's not dead, if that's what you're trying to say, Kiba. Right Hinata-chan?" Naruto said.

"Mmhm." was Hinata's response, to Kiba's great surprise. Naruto finished repairing her eye a minute later and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Done and done." he said as he picked her up. "Alright, now let's get back to Konoha." He looked around and saw the looks the Konoha 11 were shooting him.

"What?"

* * *

I'm very sorry I made you wait this long. I ran out of paper to prewrite, so i had to wait for my next paycheck, then I had to finish writing it out. Again, I'm very sorry. I'll post my next chap when I hit 45 reviews, so review, review, review! I can't improve without your input! Deaths Aprentis, Sayin', Peace!


	5. Homecoming

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Karas, otherwise, I'd sue for putting Hinata with anyone but Naruto...

The poll results so far:

Anko: 9

Temari: 5

Kurenai: 7

Fem. Kyuubi: 10

Well, there's the ones with the highest potential... please, people, if you wanna see a certain girl in the Harem, tell me, and I'll try to work her in with Naruto. But now, storytime!

**Chapter 5: Homecoming**

"Hello? Ummm... why are you all staring at me like that?" Naruto asked, unnerved by the stares he was receiving, and the glare from Kiba.

"What the hell did you do to Hinata-chan, you Teme?!" Kiba snarled. Naruto narrowed his eyes in anger and opened his mouth to speak when Hinata's voice interrupted him.

"Naruto-kun restored my sight, Kiba, so get the hell off his back!" she snapped angrily. This shocked the Konoha nin, as she had never been this vocal before.

Kiba suddenly realized something. "No Kiba-kun?" he asked, confused.

"You thought I loved you? What do you have that Naruto-kun doesn't? If you hadn't lived pampered by your family and instead in Naruto-kun's shoes, maybe I would've considered going out with you." Kiba looked up hopefully. "But..." _'There's always a but...'_ he thought, as she continued. "You know nothing of hardship. You badmouthed Naruto-kun, knowing nothing about him. You tried to take advantage of my low self esteem for your own desires, and-"

"HE WHAT!!" Naruto roared. "HE TRIED TO RAPE YOU?!" Hinata nodded, still glaring at Kiba from her place in Naruto's arms. "That's it, dog-boy! I've put up with you harrassing Hinata-chan, but trying to RAPE her?! You'll pay dearly for that offense."

"Do what you want with him, Naru-kun. I'm going to be glad to see him put in his place. Maim him, kill him..." Naruto let out a dry laugh.

"Oh, he'll be begging for death when I'm done with him." He said with a sadistic grin that would put Anko's to shame.

"I'm sorry, Reiji, but I can't let you do that." Otoha said. Naruto blinked. He turned to Otoha.

"But why not, Bro?" The Konoha 11 were now thoroughly confused. Who's Reiji? Is that Naruto's true name? These thoughts were passing through their heads.

"Because the village will brand you as a... Whatcha call it? A Nukenin? Is that right?"

"We could always say that it was the Uchiha."

"True, but do you really belive that they'll believe you?"

"Who gives a damn?!" Naruto snarled. "They all, except for a select few, deserve to burn for what they've put me through!" The Konoha 11 once again twitched uncomfortably. "First and foremost on that list is Kiba, for trying to rape Hina-tenshi!" he said, turning his glare on Kiba.

"Well, actually, it wouldn't have been rape. She almost agreed." Kiba said coolly.

"Bro, knock him out for me. My hands are full."

"No, let me. He tried to take advantage of me about 5,952 times since we became Genin, and 10,594 times since we became Chunin." Naruto chuckled.

"Well, I'll be damned. The Hinata I knew wouldn't want me to hurt Kiba, much less do it herself. Looks like that shot of Kyuubi's chakra did more than just repair your eyes." The Konoha 11 paled at this,while the Jounin became red with restrained fury.

"YOU INJECTED HER WITH THE KYUUBI'S CHAKRA?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! YOU COULD'VE KILLED HER!" "Kakashi yelled at Naruto, who merely looked at him casually.

"That would've been true... if I weren't on good terms with the Kyuubi."

"W-W-What?"

Naruto shifted Hinata in his arms and said, "Let's get home. I'd rather not speak of such things in the prescence of... our current company." He said, giving Kiba a pointed glare, as did Kurenai, Hinata, Neji, and surprisingly, Shino.

* * *

_'Kuso! I knew this would probably come back to haunt me!' _Kiba thought, as he scowled at Naruto, who was chatting companionably with the rest of the retrieval team.

"S-S-So... ano... N-N-Naruto-kun... u-umm... c-could you..." Hinata leaned in and whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Of course. All you had to do was say the word. What would you like me to sing?" Naruto asked.

"Anything that says how much you feel for me..." Hinata said, snuggling up to him. Naruto cleared his throat, created a bunch of Kagebunshin, some of which turned into instruments, and started to sing.

_  
"When the visions around you  
Bring tears to your eyes  
And all that surrounds you  
Are secrets and lies  
I'll be your strength  
I'll give you hope  
Keeping your faith when it's gone  
The one you should call  
Was standing here all along_

_And I will take you in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong  
'Til the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
This I promise you_

_I've loved you forever  
In lifetimes before  
And I promise you never  
Will you hurt anymore_

_I give you my word  
I give you my heart  
This is a battle we've won  
And with this vow_

_Forever has now begun_

_Just close your eyes  
Each lovin' day  
And know this feeling won't go away  
'Til the day my life is through  
This I promise you  
This I promise you_

_Over and over I fall  
When I hear you call  
Without you in my life, baby  
I just wouldn't be living at all_

_And I will take you in my arms  
And hold you right where you belong  
'Til the day my life is through  
This I promise you, baby_

_Just close your eyes  
Each lovin' day  
And know this feeling won't go away  
Every word I say is true  
This I promise you  
Every word I say is true  
This I promise you  
Ooh, I promise you_

Naruto closed his eyes and bowed his head as he finished. All of the women except Sakura were staring off into space dreamily.

"Naruto-kun... where did you learn that song? It's beautiful..." Ino said.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, I... wrote it..." The Konoha shinobi were surprised.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata said, tears of joy welling up in her eyes and a smile on her face.

"I am yours, heart and soul, until the end of time and beyond... my Hina-tenshi..."

"Well, you certainly live up to your reputation as Konoha's #1 unpredictable ninja..." Kakashi said, turning a page in his little orange book, earning him a vicious glare from Kurenai and a confused look from Yurine. Kiba snorted and got up to leave.

"Kiba, don't go too far." Kurenai said curtly before going back to glaring at Kakashi.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Kiba mumbled. Naruto sighed as he put Hinata down next to him and stood up.

"I'd better go and calm that fool down. There's no telling what's going through that fool's mind right now." He created a Shadow Clone and looked at it. It looked back at him and nodded as he turned and walked into the woods.

Kiba screamed in pain, anger, and sadness as he pummeled another tree.

"A Ryo for your thoughts?"

Kiba whirled around and spotted Naruto leaning casually against a tree. Kiba snarled and launched himself at Naruto, with the intention of tearing him apart.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, why all the hostility, man?" Naruto asked as he redirected Kiba's momentum into the ground. Kiba growled.

"You stole her from me!!"

"Slow down a little, Beta(1). Who did I steal from you, and how?"

"Hinata! You fucking stole Hinata from me, you bastard! I don't know how, but you did!"

"Ah, so this is about Hinata, then... You need to loosen up and move on. Let her go. There are other women out there-" Naruto started before being interrupted by Kiba.

"Then go back to chasing Sakura-ikeike, you teme, and give me back Hinata!" Naruto took a few deep breaths before saying,

"I meant for you. You really need to open up and clean out your ears." Naruto said, causing Kiba to snarl before his face was ground into the dirt. "Don't snarl at me, Mutt! Here I am, trying to fucking _help _you, and you show your thanks by snarling at me? I'll tell you, if you don't get your head out of your ass, you're gonna die a very lonely death! I'm trying to help you 'cuz I can't help but feel sorry for your sorry ass!" Kiba stayed silent this time, instead choosing to curl up into a ball. "Now, listen closely. We're going to go back to camp. When we get back to the village, I'll help you find the right girl for you... Okay?" Kiba didn't respond. Naruto sighed. "Trust me, you'll thank me for this, someday." Naruto said as he helped Kiba to his feet. Naruto went to take a step, when he suddenly felt a searing pain between his ribs. He looked down and sighed. "Kiba, you just never learn, do you?" Naruto gasped in pain as Kiba forced the kunai deeper into Naruto's chest, burying it to the hilt.

"If I can't have Hinata, then neither will you." Kiba whispered in Naruto's ear as he fell. "See you in hell... Kyuubi-teme." Kiba then walked off, leaving Naruto for dead.

Kiba sauntered back into camp with a smile on his face. "Hey guys." he said, only to be greeted by a fist to the face.

"Why? Why'd you try to kill me Kiba? Are you really that stupid?!" The Naruto Kage Bunshin said, causing everyone to gasp except Sakura, who smirked evilly, and Hinata, who stiffened in shock. Otoha appeared in front of Kiba, his katana drawn and half an inch from Kiba's face.

"Where is Reiji?" He demanded. Kiba snorted.

"Who's Reiji?" Kiba asked.

"The one you know as Naruto. Now answer me. Where Is He?!" Kiba gestured over his shoulder.

"About 30 meters back that way."

"Wrong." Everyone whirled around to see Naruto, with a kunai buried into his chest. "Damn, Kiba, do you know how much of a bitch it is to run with one of these in one of your lungs?" He said as he gripped it, coughing, and yanked it out. "Damn!" he gasped. "That hurts like a bitch!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted, trying to get up.

"Reiji! Are you okay?" Otoha said as he looked Naruto over.

"Ummm, my name's not Reiji, it's Naruto. I... don't even know who this... Reiji... is, or where he is... sorry." _'Odd... I feel like I know this guy... but I've never met him before! Well, I'll think about this later.'_ Naruto thought.

"Then how did you know to call me Bro?" Otoha asked with a small smile. Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "You Are Reiji Reincarnate. You are, or should I say were, my best friend in your past life. Now... to deal with this lowlife." Otoha turned towards the spot where Kiba had once stood. "Where'd he go?!"

"He left for the village." Sakura said as though nothing serious was happening. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Naruto screamed at her. "Bushy Brows, Bushy Brow sensei! You two are the fastest here, you've gotta stop Kiba before he gets to the village and gets Hinata-chan's father to force us to stop seeing each other!"

"YOSH! WE WILL STOP KIBA'S UNYOUTHFUL ACTIONS FOR YOU! AND IF I FAIL, I WILL DO 100 LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS!" Gai yelled, taking off with Lee right behind him.

"AND IF YOU FAIL THAT, I WILL DO 5,000 PUSHUPS WITH ONE FINGER!"

"AND IF YOU FAIL, I WILL DO 10,000 SQUATS!"

"AND IF YOU FAIL, I WILL CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT WITH MY TEETH!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!" Everyone at the camp shuddered as their voices faded out.

"Now..." Naruto said as everyone turned back to Sakura, malicious grins on their faces. "What to do with you..." Sakura's screams were unheard as her precious hair was burned off.

At Konoha

Kiba didn't stop running as he passed the gate, and headed straight to the Hyuuga complex.

_'I gotta get that monster away from her! No matter what it takes! She'll thank me for this! Just gotta get him to show his true colors... And I know exactly how to do it...' _Kiba thought as he ran.

Hyuuga Compound, 5 minutes later...

"Please, let me in! I must see Hiashi-sama immediately! This is a matter of grave importance!" Kiba said breathlessly when he reached the gates. The guards looked at each other, then the one on the left went into the compound, returning a few minutes later.

"Hiashi-sama will see you now." The guard said. "And it had better be important, or Lord Hiashi will be very cross with you."

"Trust me, Hiashi-sama will want to know this."

Hyuuga Compound, Hiashi's Study

Hiashi was doing some paperwork when he heard a knock at the door to his study.

"Hiashi-sama, Inuzuka Kiba-sama is here."

"He may enter. Bring us some tea, if you will."

"Yes, Hiashi-sama."

Kiba walked in, panting.

"Greetings, Kiba. I take it the mission went well?" Hiashi asked as he took his cup of tea. Kiba politely, but rapidly, sipped his tea.

"Yes Hiashi-sama. Ah, that's good. Thank you. But... there were a couple of small problems..."

"Inform me."

"Hinata-chan was nearly killed... then Uzumaki Naruto took advantage of her weakened state to place her in a powerful Genjutsu, after attempting to kill Uchiha Sasuke. And before you get upset, Hinata-chan was hit by a Chidori and lost consciousness, so she couldn't use her Byakugan to counteract the Genjutsu." Kiba said.

"Did he now? What is the nature of the Genjutsu? Do you know?" Hiashi asked.

"It's fooling her into thinking she loves him. I believe she's been under this Genjutsu since the Academy, and that he reinforced it under the guise of repairing her eyes."

"I thank you, Inuzuka-san, for this information... how may I repay you?" Hiashi said, knowing that the Inuzuka wanted something in exchange.

"I want..."

Konoha, Main Gates, 30 Minutes Later

The Sasuke Retrieval Team walked towards the gates of Konoha, tired from running almost all night. Their blood ran cold, however, when they saw Hiashi Hyuuga himself waiting at the gates of Konoha. Standing beside him was a smirking Kiba.

"Hinata, are you well?" Hiashi asked cautiously.

"Hai, Otou-sama."

"Then please stand."

"I apologize, Hiashi-sama, but her nervous system hasn't completely recovered from Sasuke-teme's attack." Naruto said respectfully.

"I see..." Hiashi said, looking thoughtful. "Or, is it that your Genjutsu requires you to be in contact with her until you finish weaving it?"

"Genjutsu? What Genjutsu?" Naruto asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Quit lying, Naruto-teme! Undo the Genjutsu! Or I'll undo it for you!" Kiba said furiously.

"Kiba, I honestly-" Naruto started to try and reason with him again, but Kiba wouldn't hear it.

"I don't want to hear it! I noticed it in the academy! There's no way she could be in love with the dead last of the class!" Kiba yelled. Naruto smirked.

"Sounds like you're in jealous denial." This enraged Kiba even more, and he lunged forward and aimed his claws at Naruto's throat......

.....Only to be blocked by Otoha's katana.

"I'd watch my step if I were you. I won't let anyone hurt Re- Naruto ever again." Otoha caught himself before he called Naruto Reiji again. "I'll be watching." Otoha said, pushing Kiba away and sheathing his sword.

"Demon-loving scum! How dare you threaten the Inuzuka Heir!" Several Hyuugas appeared when Hiashi put up his hand, and surrounded the group.

"I will take care of this, thank you men." He told the two Chunin gate guards. He turned to Naruto. "Uzumaki."

"Yes, Hiashi-sama. What do you require of me?"

"Bring Hinata with us. We'll sort this all out at the Hyuuga clan compound."

(1) **Beta- From what I've seen, a Beta is one step below the Alpha of a wolf pack, i.e. The pups of the Alpha and their mate.**

Whew! Another chapter done! It's getting harder, but I think I'll pull through. I decided to go ahead and put this chapter out even though I haven't gotten 45 reviews because, the way I see it, that's just punishment for the people who do review. As usual, Please Review, and help me improve!


	6. Explanations and the Verdict

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Karas.**

**A/N:** Hey everybody, I'm back! I'd like to thank you for staying with me. Also, I'd like to extend a very special thanks to Death Fan Zero for pointing out a mistake I made in regards to Kiba's standing in the Inuzuka pack. This mistake has since been corrected. Again, thanks, Death Fan. Now, the leaders in the poll are as follows:

Fem. Kyuubi: 11

Anko: 9

Kurenai: 7

Looks like Fem. Kyuu, Anko, and Kurenai are the leads in your opinions. Also, I might drop the lowest one of the leads and sub Yugito in for her, cause, well... I like Yugito. She's cool. But I still haven't decided if I'm gonna do that yet, so you still have time. The poll is going to close when I get the next chapter out, so if you haven't voted yet, then hurry up and do so! I'll also announce whether or not I'm subbing in Yugito next chap. Now, Read On!

**Chapter 6:Explanations And The Verdict**

**Konoha 11, Night Camp, Walking Distance From Konoha: 1 Day**

The Jounin sensei were sitting on the opposite side of the campfire from their Chuunin charges. Otoha eventually spoke up.

"So, how'd you all meet Reiji?" he asked.

"You mean Naruto?" Kakashi said. Otoha sighed.

"Yes. I've really got to start calling him that..." Now it was Kakashi's turn to sigh. He put his book away, not bothering to mark his page.

"It was about eight years ago," Kakashi started. "I was patrolling the village. I would've been an ANBU at the time-a member of the village's elite. I... I stumbled upon a mob gathered around the bleeding and broken body of Naruto." Everyone saw the tears welling up in Kakashi's visible eye, as his voice cracked. He composed himself and continued. "I jumped down between the mob and Naruto, charging a Raikiri on the way down. I turned around and knelt next to Naruto, asking if he was okay. I'll... I'll never forget the look on his face... He was so full of hope... hope that I'd save him from the villagers... And I betrayed him... When he answered me and said that he was going to be okay, I ran him through with the Raikiri I was holding and said it was the wrong answer." Kakashi was openly sobbing now, tears running down his face and soaking his mask. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret that choice. When I realized who he was, I was shocked and disgusted with myself. He's my sensei's son- they look almost exactly the same- and I tried to kill him... After I ran him through, I killed the mob and rushed him to the hospital. I had to kill five of the medics and threaten the rest for them to realize that they should treat him. I then told them before I left, that if he had so much as an extra scratch on him when I came back from retrieving the Hokage, I'd kill them all. That was the day I had to hand in my mask. The Sandaime allowed me to retain Jounin status because I took Naruto to the hospital and threatened the medics in order to protect him, knowing that they all hated him. After he woke, I begged him for forgiveness and spent the rest of the week with him. I was eventually forbidden to spend any time with him anymore by the council when they found out. The old bastards threatened me with execution."

Otoha just remained silent. He knew that Kakashi genuinely regretted his actions, as he had been reading his emotions the entire time. He turned to point at Gai. "You next."

"I was running my usual 500 laps around Konoha when I saw the youthful Naruto being beaten. I immediately went to his aid and drove away the youth-killing villagers. I offered to train him to be faster to get away from them, but he youthfully replied that he couldn't take the time out of my day. He then thanked me and went on his youthful way."

"I swear to Kami, if I hear youthful one more time, I'm gonna put you in the worst genjutsu possible for a man!" Kurenai said, eye twitching. Gai paled.

"You... you wouldn't!" He said, uncharacteristically quietly.

"Yes, I would!" Kurenai shot back. Gai's hands shot to protect... his hair?

"NOOOOOOO!!! You can't take away my hip bowlcut and cool eyebrows!!!" He wailed, causing the Jounin to palm their faces.

"Ooooookay, please continue your story, Gai-san." Yurine said.

"Yosh! After the council found out about me saving Naruto-kun, they told me that unless I did something against him, they would execute me for treason. So I did the least harmful thing I could think of-"

"You threatened some shopkeepers." Otoha cut him off.

"Yes. But I still helped him by sending him half of my mission payment to help his young body get some decent food to grow strong!" Gai finished joyfully. Otoha turned to Kurenai with a glare.

"You know the drill... Kurenai-san."

"I... I regret this more than I thought possible, and even more so now that I know what Naruto had to go through as a child. I... succumbed to peer pressure. I was taking the Jounin exams, and we'd just finished the first portion of it. The proctor motioned me over. When I was standing in front of him, he said that there was a secret 'extra credit' portion of the exam, and he thought that I was most deserving of this once-in-a-lifetime chance." Kurenai sighed. "I thought he was just trying to get into my pants, as most of the Chuunin there were trying to do the same. When I told him that he wasn't getting into my pants regardless of whether it worked or not, he just laughed and waved it off. 'All the reward I need is you making Jounin after taking my advice and killing the Demon-child,' he said. I asked him how he could expect me to kill a child, even if it was a demon, he looked at me like I was crazy, and told me that if I did this task- trying to kill Naruto- I'd be a shoe-in for Jounin, and I'd be considered a hero for finishing the Yondaime's task and killing the Kyuubi." Kurenai bowed her head in shame. "I buckled. That night, I snuck into Naruto's apartment. He woke and... he... he called me..." Kurenai started to cry. As Asuma comforted her, Otoha and Yurine looked at each other. "He asked me if I was the Angel of Death, come to save him... I... I didn't answer, instead I put him into a genjutsu and slit his throat and left. The next few days were torture for me. I just couldn't stop thinking about that desperate, pleading voice, and his broken, defeated expression. It haunted my dreams, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, until I went to Hokage-sama and told him. Needless to say, he was furious. He restricted me to D-rank missions until I made Jounin, and further punished me by forbidding me to take the Jounin exams for five years. Naruto would've been... he was..." Kurenai broke down again. "He was only six and a half, and he'd already given up on life!" She sobbed, nearly inconsolable. Yurine was shocked as she turned to Otoha.

"Is that true?" She asked him. His expression hardened again as he nodded. "That's horrible! What exactly did he go through?!"

"Daily beatings, nightly assassination attempts, being a guinea pig for people's jutsus, I could go on, but I probably would wind up killing the entire village in my rage when we got there." Otoha replied. Suddenly, Naruto cleared his throat and created several Kage Bunshin. The Jounin tensed, but relaxed when Naruto started to sing. When he finished, most of the Kunoichi in the clearing were dazzled by his amazing singing voice.

"Well, you certainly live up to your reputation as Konoha's Number One Surprising Ninja," Kakashi said, pulling his book back out and starting to read, trying to get his mind off of the memories that he had just been forced to relive. Kurenai glared at him through her tears.

"How can you read that smut at a time like this?! Were those tears you were just shedding false?!"

"Kurenai, this 'smut' as you call it, is calming for me. You may not approve, but remember this: I have lived through much more than you have. I need something to constantly keep my mind busy, else I'll be overwhelmed by my worst memories. And I can guarantee that two days without any occupation, and I'd likely commit suicide. So please, don't force me down that road." Kakashi whispered, his grip on his book tightening almost to the breaking point as he fought to stave off the memory of Obito being crushed under a boulder. He nearly whimpered as he saw his closest friend being crushed, yet again. Several tears leaked out of the corner of his eye as he forced himself to start reading again.

Kurenai suddenly called out.

"Don't go too far, Kiba!" she called curtly to him, before turning back to the other Jounin sensei. Otoha turned to Asuma.

"Tell us your story." He said, bringing everyone's attention to Asuma.

"I... I'd rather not... " he said quietly. Otoha started drawing his sword.

"You've got 10 seconds to start talking before your head is severed from your body. So you'd better. I want to hear your side of that event. Now start talking!" Asuma pulled out a cigarette and was about to light it when Otoha's katana whipped it out of his hand. "Nuh-uh, you're gonna stop smoking. You're not gonna get yourself killed until I hear your story."

"But, it's calming! I could use a little stress reliever. Especially for this..."

"... Alright. But if I catch wind of you smoking again, I'll find you, and get rid of that addiction MY way- and you won't like my way." Otoha said. Asuma sighed.

"Fine." Asuma said, as he lit up what would be his last cigarette. "I had just made Jounin, as had Kurenai. My father had given me my trench knives as a gift for making Jounin. I was at my personal training field, training with them. That was when I sensed Naruto." Asuma looked away in shame after taking a long drag on his cigarette. "I sensed Jounin level reserves in him, so I thought it was some idiot Jounin from another Hidden Village spying on me. I told him to stop hiding and reveal himself. When he came out of the bushes, I asked him if he was having fun masquerading as the village's hero. Yes, I agreed with my father; yes, I see Naruto as the Jailer and not the Demon; yes, I regret not looking more closely at him before I attacked. My father must have been watching through that crystal ball of his, because just as I knocked Naruto out, he showed up with about ten ANBU behind him. When I told him what had happened, he told me that it was part of his burden."

"What was a part of his burden? And who was your father?" Otoha interrupted before Asuma could continue.

"His insane chakra reserves and endurance. Holding the Kyuubi within himself is a constant drain on his chakra reserves. It's like a constant chakra-building exercise. Having the Kyuubi within him, I mean. And... My father... He was... The third Hokage." Asuma finished.

"Why do you talk about your father in the past tense? Isn't he still in charge?"

"He... died... in an attack on Konoha." Asuma said sadly.

"I see... I'm sorry. So, how'd you make it up to Naruto?" Otoha asked.

"I offered him chakra control training. Of course, my father was ecstatic that Naruto would be trained and better able to escape danger, but the council..." Asuma replied.

"It seems that the councilors have their heads up their asses, if they allowed Naruto to be treated so terribly. Otoha and I will need to speak with them when we get back to the village. Will your Hokage be able to get us an appointment?" Yurine asked.

"She'd better. I hope for Naruto's sake that you straighten those bastards out." Kurenai said.

"Okay, I'm sorry to make you all relive those horrible memories, but I wanted to hear it from your side." Otoha said. Kurenai suddenly remembered something.

"Couldn't you have just used your memory reading technique?" she asked. Otoha looked at her indifferently.

"I could have. Why?" He questioned.

"Well, couldn't you have just used that, instead of having us relive those horrible moments in our lives?"

Otoha looked at Yurine. "You didn't tell them?" Yurine shook her head.

"I didn't have enough time." She answered.

"What didn't she tell us?" Kakashi asked. Gai suddenly spoke up again, startling the other Jounin.

"YOSH! Please tell us your secret, Otoha-san! Enlighten us!" He yelled. Kurenai bonked him upside the head.

"Not so loud! But yes, tell us."

Otoha sighed. "I've found that unless my target is unconscious, they see the memories that I am looking at. That's how I demoralize the stronger Mikura. I-" At that moment, Kiba strolled back into the clearing, only to be punched in the face by Naruto's Kage Bunshin. When the clone yelled at Kiba, asking him why he had tried to kill Naruto, Otoha seemingly Shunshin'ed to Kiba.

"Where is Reiji?" Otoha demanded.

Kiba snorted and asked, "Who's Reiji?"

"The one you know as Naruto. Now answer my question. Where Is He?!" Kiba let out a nearly inaudible chuckle.

"About 30 meters back that way." Kiba said, gesturing over his shoulder.

"Wrong." Naruto said from the treeline. He leaned heavily against a tree as he coughed up a bit of blood. "Damn, Kiba! Do you know how much of a bitch it is to run with one of these things in one of your lungs?" Naruto said, coughing, as he yanked the kunai out of his lung.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled as she struggled to move her body to Naruto, and failed.(1) After a quick inspection by Otoha, Naruto started to panic when Sakura told them that Kiba had left for the village. He asked Lee and Gai to try and catch up to Kiba and stop him. After burning Sakura's hair off, they packed up and took off at top speed.

* * *

**Konoha Front Gate**

As the Konoha 11 approached the font gates, their blood ran cold as they saw Hiashi and Kiba waiting for them.

"Hinata, are you well?" Hiashi asked cautiously.

"Hai, Otou-sama."

"Then please stand."

"I apologize, Hiashi-sama, but her nervous system hasn't completely recovered from Sasuke-teme's attack." Naruto said respectfully.

"I see..." Hiashi said, looking thoughtful. "Or, is it that your Genjutsu requires you to be in contact with her until you finish weaving it?"

"Genjutsu? What Genjutsu?" Naruto asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Quit lying, Naruto-teme! Undo the Genjutsu! Or I'll undo it for you!" Kiba said furiously.

"Kiba, I honestly-" Naruto started to try and reason with him again, but Kiba wouldn't hear it.

"I don't want to hear it! I noticed it in the academy! There's no way she could be in love with the dead last of the class!" Kiba yelled. Naruto smirked.

"Sounds like you're in jealous denial." This enraged Kiba even more, and he lunged forward and aimed his claws at Naruto's throat......

.....Only to be blocked by Otoha's katana.

"I'd watch my step if I were you. I won't let anyone hurt Re- Naruto ever again." Otoha caught himself before he called Naruto Reiji again. "I'll be watching." Otoha said, pushing Kiba away and sheathing his sword.

"Demon-loving scum! How dare you threaten the Inuzuka Heir!" Several Hyuugas appeared when Hiashi put up his hand, and surrounded the group.

"I will take care of this, thank you men." He told the two Chunin gate guards. He turned to Naruto. "Uzumaki."

"Yes, Hiashi-sama. What do you require of me?"

"Bring Hinata with us. We'll sort this all out at the Hyuuga clan compound."

* * *

Naruto's mind was swirling with thoughts and worries. _'What has Kiba told him? What if he believed Kiba? What'll I do if I'm forced to stay away from Hinata?!'_ That last thought terrified him. He'd fought against S-class Nukenin, blasted his way out of a bandit camp with only Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, with no weapons whatsoever, and fallen off a thousand-foot cliff, but none of that scared him like losing Hinata did. Hinata was the only thing keeping him going; if he lost her, he didn't know what he would do.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered to him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Yes, Hina-tenshi?"

"You're... you're hurting me..." Naruto realized that his grip on her had tightened to the point that his knuckles were white. He immediately loosened his grip a little.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan. I'm just worried, ya know? What... What if your father separates us just because of my burden? What if he actually believes Kiba? What if-"

"Naruto-ouji(2), my father may be strict and harsh, but he's always been fair. At the very least, he'll hear you out before making his decision." Hinata assured him. Naruto let out a relieved sigh.

"Well, that makes me feel a little better."

* * *

**Hyuuga Compound, Hiashi's study**

Hiashi opened the door and motioned for the two Genin and one Jounin to enter, before stopping a branch member and asking him to bring them some tea.

"Please, sit, Uzumaki-san. We are all friends here." Hiashi said calmly. Naruto knelt, making sure Hinata was sitting steadily before seating himself in front of Hiashi. Hiashi noted this. _'Hmmm... he made sure Hinata was comfortable before he sat himself... While Kiba did nothing...'_

"If that's the case, Hiashi-sama, then please call me Naruto." Hiashi allowed himself a small smile as the branch member entered, poured their tea, bowed, then left.

"Very well, Naruto-san. I hear you have recently made Jounin. Am I correct?" Hiashi asked him.

"Well, actually, Baa-chan forced it on me. I wanted to take the exam and earn my position, but she just said that she could promote me, whether I passed or not 'cause she's the Hokage. So... that's how it happened." Naruto replied.

Hiashi nodded. "And how did your most recent mission go?"

"Well, aside from Hina-tenshi nearly dying and the Uchiha bastard escaping again, it went well."

"Fill me in on the details, Naruto-san."

"Well," Naruto started, "We found our way into Oto, and after incapacitating any who got in our way, we eventually found our way into the snake fag's lair. After a short argument with it, Sasuke-teme revealed himself and started looking at Hina-tenshi like she was a piece of meat. Naturally, I didn't take this well, and the only reason I didn't kill the bastard right then and there was because Sakura and Hina-tenshi were restraining me. Sasuke and I fought for a little bit, then he tried to hit me with a Chidori when I tried to reason with the bastard. That... that was when Hinata-chan came in and took the hit for me. When she died, I let my grief and rage take over, and I tried to kill the bastard. Shikamaru, Ero-sennin, and Kurenai-sensei managed to stall me for a little bit, but when I broke out of Kurenai-sensei's Genjutsu, I had nearly lost myself in the rage that clouded me. It was only because of Gaara that the retrieval team is still alive."

"Just a moment, Naruto-san. You said that Hinata died. Would you care to tell me how she is sitting here with us?" Hiashi interrupted.

"Some information is only to be shared among friends." Naruto said, glancing meaningfully at Kiba.

"I see... Please continue."

"Well, That was when it was revealed to me that Hina-tenshi was alive. I've never been so happy in my life. But that happiness was short-lived, however, as we soon realized that because of the amount of power in the Chidori that hit her, Hina-tenshi was blind. However, I soon fixed that with a jutsu that I created myself. On the way home, though, was when our biggest problem came up. Dumbass here," Naruto said, before being interrupted by Hinata.

"Naru-kun! Language!" she admonished him.

"But Hina-tenshi, that's what he is!" Naruto whined. Hiashi barely suppressed a chuckle.

"No buts! Watch your language around my father until we're married!" Hinata said firmly.

"But..." Naruto started.

"What did I just say?" Hinata asked dangerously. Naruto sighed, conceding defeat.

"Yes, Hinata..." This time Hiashi did laugh. The three sixteen year olds looked at him incredulously. "Well, I'll be the Shodai's uncle! A Hyuuga, laughing? That's a first." Naruto said.

"You'll have to forgive me for that outburst. It's just, watching you two argue reminded me of myself and my wife before we married." Hiashi said, calming down. "Please, continue."

"Alright, well, the idiot, here, tried to kill me when I went and offered to help him find a girl. Instead, he stabbed me and left me for dead. I went back to camp, he snuck off while the rest of us were preoccupied, and here we are." Naruto finished. Hiashi nodded, running over all that he had said in his head. When he was certain he could find no inconsistencies, he nodded to himself. "Well, Naruto-san, it seems that your story is sound. However, the council of elders will never agree to allow you to marry either of my daughters." Kiba smirked.

_'That means that I get Hinata. Take that you damned fox!'_ Kiba thought.

"Unless..." Hiashi said, looking thoughtful. "You two," He said, gesturing to Naruto and Kiba, "Could fight each other to determine who gets my daughter's hand in marriage. Is this acceptable?" He looked between the two boys, gauging their reactions.

"What are the terms of conduct for this fight?" Naruto asked.

"We'll determine them now, if you two are in agreement." Hiashi offered. Naruto looked levelly at Hiashi.

"I will put my life on the line for her. Name your conditions." He said. Kiba nodded in agreement. They spent the next few hours discussing the rules for the fight, and writing them down.

"Now, I just need you to sign here. Both of you. By signing, you agree to all terms and conditions written herein."

Naruto took the brush, dipped it in ink, and signed the contract. When he finished, Kiba did the same.

"Very well. I will take this before the elders, and we shall notify you of when the fight will take place. You may go, Inuzuka-san. Naruto-san, I wish to know how you resurrected my daughter."

* * *

**A/N:** Hey peeps! Sorry this took awhile to get out. Seems like everyone's hatin on me now: computer's goin' screwy, internet's cutting out randomly, mom tried to take away my 'net... Life's just fucking me over right now... so... bad news. I'm gonna have to put this story on hold until I sort everything out. Fear not, I absolutely _WILL NOT_ abandon this story until it's over, but I won't be able to update for awhile. Don't hesitate to leave me reviews, but I may not respond for awhile. T.T Life Sucks...


	7. Karas Reunion

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Karas, now get the hell off my ass, you fuckin lawyers!

**A/N: **Well Damn! This took awhile to get out, and I'm sorry, but I haven't been able to get on lately. After I put that Prologue chap up for In Twilight's Name, my mom wised up, and now... well, let's just say that it's gonna take an arm and a leg, maybe more to keep gettin online now. Please, just bear with me; good times usually follow the bad!... Actually, that's a load of shit, but whatever. Quick announcement; Yugito... Is... IN! Sorry all you NaruKure fans, but I just don't know how to make their relationship believable. Besides, Anko, Yugito, and Hinata are all within what, like 3-4 years of Naruto's age? So, y'know... Well, you've waited long enough, here's the chapter.

**Chapter 7: Karas Reunion**

Otoha and Yurine watched through the window from across the courtyard as Naruto gave his explanation of the past few days. About halfway through, however, Otoha felt a tap on his shoulder. Acting on reflex, he whirled around as he jumped to his feet, katana singing as it flew out of its sheath, sliced through the air, and connected solidly with the sheath of another katana.

"Wow, nice to see you again, too, Otoha. Hi Yurine!" Otoha glanced up and down the speaker's body. When he realized who he was looking at, his eyes widened. She took this opportunity to tease Otoha. "Like the view? I could give you a better one..." She tantalizingly lifted a corner of her mid-thigh length skirt, making Otoha turn red.

"N-n-no... I-I mean... I just- I-" The two women laughed.

"So, Amefuriko, you can still do it, too. It's amazing that he's completely emotionless any other time, but we give him a little tease and he stutters like a fool!" Yurine and Amefuriko laughed again, while Otoha looked away in embarrassment.

"50 years... 50 _years_ they've been doing this to me... when are they going to get tired of it?" He muttered. The two women looked at each other, then at him.

"Never," they said together, then they dissolved into another fit of laughter. Otoha shook himself before speaking up again.

"So, Amefuriko, what are you doing here? How did you get here?" She shrugged.

"Beats me. I was on my way to visit you two when I blacked out." Amefuriko explained. She pointed at the large stone faces at the far end of the village. "I came to up there about ten minutes ago. I decided to sightsee while I figured out what part of Japan I was-"

"This isn't Japan." Yurine stated plainly. "We're in some alternate world, a place called the 'Elemental Nations.' Otoha and I were still trying to figure out a way to get back home- or even if we wanted to go back." This was when Otoha decided to ask the question that had been nagging him since Amefuriko had arrived.

"Amefuriko."

"Huh?"

"Something's been tearing you apart inside. Is everything alright?" Amefuriko's smile, which Yurine now noticed had been forced, crumbled to reveal exhaustion and intense sadness.

"Umm... can I talk to you... alone, Otoha?" Otoha nodded.

"Of course. You can talk to me about anything. We're friends, remember? Yurine. Keep an eye on Naruto for me, alright?" With Yurine's nod, he turned back to Amefuriko. "Lead the way." She nodded and leapt off over the buildings, towards the tallest one in the village- the Hokage's Tower.

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Otoha and Amefuriko reached the Hokage's tower a few minutes later.

"This is far enough." Amefuriko said quietly. It was at this point that Otoha knew that something was very, very, _very_ wrong. Knowing Amefuriko, she should have spoken or pointed something of interest out at least once on the way there; however, she'd been completely silent, only looking up to make sure they were on the right path, or to make sure that Otoha was keeping up. He was worried sick, and he wanted to do something, anything, to help.

"Amefuriko, what's wrong? Is it your Yurine?" He immediately regretted asking the second question, as she teared up, looking on the verge of breaking down and crying till she was completely out of tears.

"Yes... And no." Otoha gave her a confused look. She sighed dejectedly as she walked to the handrail, resting her hands on it and looking out over the village. A slight breeze stirred up, blowing her hair around her face. "You remember Eko, and what he did, right? Well, apparently, we missed one of the Mikura when we did that last sweep of the city. It caught my Yurine and me off guard a few days ago, and..." her voice started to tremble and crack, gaining a slightly hysterical edge to it. "It tore her apart, literally tore her to shreds before I had even turned around... I... I didn't know what to do, or-or what to say, or-or anything, so I... I ran." By now, tears were pouring down Amefuriko's face and falling onto the roof of the tower beneath them. Otoha pulled her into a comforting embrace.

"It's not your fault. It's not her fault. I should have kept searching my city for it- the blame is all mine. But don't hold back. Just cry it all out. She was your best friend. I understand how it feels. Just let it all out." Otoha whispered soothingly. "I'm here for you." That did it. The dam holding back Amefuriko's tears broke, and she screamed into Otoha's chest, releasing all her pain, all her frustration, all her tears, as she cried herself to sleep, mourning the death of her partner and best friend of over 300 years in Otoha's strong, comforting embrace.

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A little while later, several ninja landed on the rooftop with Otoha, who was so preoccupied with gazing at the woman in his arms that he didn't notice them. They stood and waited for him to notice them, then one approached, making sure to make as much noise as possible. When he reached them, and Otoha still hadn't noticed them, the nin knelt and slowly reached a hand out, gently touching the black-clad spirit on the shoulder. Otoha jolted back to awareness, and looked warily at the masked ninjas around him.

"Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you. With you and your partner." The wolf-masked nin spoke quietly, so as not to disturb the woman that this man was holding. "You might want to wake her up before you get to the office. Your partner's already there, waiting for you. If you'll kindly come with us, we'll show you to Tsunade-sama's office."

"I thought I was going to see the Hokage."

"Tsunade-sama is the Hokage." Otoha nodded and quietly stood, trying not to wake Amefuriko, who snuggled into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him, as if afraid he'd disappear. He tilted his head down and whispered something into her ear, causing her to relax a little bit. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. She just witnessed something very...painful a few days ago, and she only just let it out a little while ago. Nothing anyone can do, anymore. It wasn't around here." Otoha looked upset. "Wish I could've been there to help." He said to himself. "Lead the way."

"It'll be faster to shunshin. Hang on to your lunch-and your girlfriend." Wolf said, securely gripping Otoha's shoulder and making a one-handed sign.

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Moments later, Otoha and the three masked nins reappeared in the Hokage's office. Otoha took one look at the woman behind the desk and turned to Yurine.

"Is it even possible to have breasts that big?" Tsunade rubbed her eyes and sighed, fighting back the urge to pummel him, solely because he was holding an unconscious woman. The woman he spoke to shrugged.

"Hell if I know. It may not be possible where we're from, but it must be possible, here." Yurine looked and gestured towards Amefuriko. "Is she alright? What was wrong?"

Otoha shook his head. "Ask Amefuriko in about a week or so. If she didn't want to tell you now, it was probably for a reason. I respect her privacy too much to say any more." He turned to the woman behind the desk. "You must be Tsunade-sama. My name is Otoha Shinuso. My partner there may have already introduced herself, but for politeness' sake, her name is Yurine." Tsunade nodded.

"And what, exactly, is your relationship with Naruto?"

"A century ago, my closest friend died. Ever since that day, I've been searching for his reincarnation."

"And that turned out to be Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"From the few seconds I looked through his hidden spiritual memory? No doubt about it." was Otoha's reply.

"And is it possible for this... Mind-reading technique to be replicated?"

"Is it possible, or even reasonable, to ask one of your ninja to separate their very soul from their body?" Otoha replied. He shook his head. "No... no, it's not. Please don't pursue this any further. It may cause many deaths." Tsunade arched an eyebrow, resting her chin on her interlaced fingers.

"And you've uncovered the secret to doing this and still living, but you don't want to share it?" Otoha's demeanor changed drastically, causing the temperature to drop by about 15 degrees. The Jounin and Konoha 11 paled. _'Note to self: don't bother Otoha after he's decided not to talk about something- it may prove lethal!'_

When Otoha gave his reply, his voice was cold and silent. "I asked you not to pursue it any further. But if you must know, I am able to do it... because I wasn't even alive, even in the physical sense, when I started to work on it. My body has been nonexistant for a century. Do your research before making statements such as those, because if I was an enemy, you would have died before your mind had finished forming that sentence." Yurine came and stood next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and whispering in his ear. He nodded and took a few steps back.

"I'm sorry about that, Hokage-sama, he just hates it when people who know nearly nothing on something he knows nearly everything about speak as if they were the one who taught it to him. But, we are here because we need your help." Tsunade laughed, now relaxing and leaning back in her chair.

"So, you threaten, then insult me, then you ask for my help? Give me one good reason to help you, and I'll consider it." Yurine smiled.

"If you help us, we can help Naruto."

Tsunade leaned forward again. "Well, you've piqued my interest. Tell me how you can help Naruto, and why you need my help."

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**Hyuuga Compound, Hiashi's study**

Naruto waited for Kiba to leave the room, then put up a sound-suppression barrier. Turning to Hiashi, he spoke one word.

"Kyuubi."

"YOU WHAT?! You injected my eldest daughter with that demon's chakra, and you expect me to allow you to marry her?" Hiashi took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. "I will hear your explanation. But if I detect any sign of intentional lies or misinformation, the contract will be void and Kiba will be allowed to continue to pursue my daughter." Hiashi looked dangerously at Naruto. "Understood?"

Naruto smiled. "Well, then, I've got nothing to worry about. I intend to tell you the truth as I know it. I admit, on some points I'll be wrong, but I'll tell you what I know to be true. Is this acceptable, Hiashi-sama?" Hiashi nodded. "Alright. I'll start by informing you that I didn't intentionally inject Hinata with Sonja's chakra."

"We're talking about injecting Hinata with the Kyuubi's chakra, not some other woman's, Uzumaki." Hiashi said in a warning tone.

"F-father? What if K-K-Kyuubi i-is Sonja?" Hinata said meekly. Hiashi looked at Naruto.

"She's dead-on, Hiashi-sama. Kyuubi told me her name about... Hmm, how long ago was it?" Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Ah! About ten years ago! Gotta thank Sonja later. But, yeah, another mob was chasing me, yadda, yadda, yadda, and I found myself looking at Sonja's fox form." Naruto laughed. "Looking back, it seems so funny, but at the time, I was terrified to be wreathed in that warm chakra and with one of her tails wrapped around me. I mistook that worried expression for a hungry one. But, I'm getting off topic."

"Start by telling me how you _unintentionally_ injected Hinata with Sonja's... chakra..." Hiashi looked to be immersed in painful memories.

"Hiashi-sama." Hiashi looked at Naruto, who had an unusually sober expression on his face. "She says that she's sorry for not coming back to see you. She wants you to know that no matter what, she kept you and Hizashi-sama at the forefront of her thoughts." Hiashi looked stunned. "Yes, your sister, the one who disappeared when you were seven, succeeded the previous Sonja no Kitsune. The fox that you were always playing with, remember it?" Hiashi looked at him disbelievingly. "Yep, that was your sister. It was the only way she could've come back to visit for a long time. After she truly ascended, she was too busy protecting the Land of Fire to do much of anything else."

Hiashi composed himself and nodded. "Tell her that I missed her, and that I look forward to the day we meet again." Naruto smiled.

"You just did."

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**Hokage's office**

"So, you want to speak with the council, and make sure that they atone for their crimes against Naruto?" Otoha nodded, as Yurine voiced her agreement. "And you need someplace to stay, as well?" Tsunade shrugged. "Well, I was planning to give him his house on his birthday, but I can just get him something else." She turned to the SRS(1). "Where is Naruto, anyway?"

""He took Hinata and went with her father and Kiba to the Hyuuga Compound." Kakashi said. "They're probably fighting by now, Naruto and Kiba."

Tsunade looked suspiciously at Kakashi. "Did something happen that you're not telling me about?" Kakashi sighed. "Spit it out. Now. That's an order!" Tsunade demanded.

"Kiba tried to kill Naruto on the way back home."

"And you didn't tell me this earlier because...?"

"Naruto's probably going to wind up killing Kiba in the next month because of their new war over who gets to be with Hinata." Tsunade was taken aback by this new development.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Naruto actually knows that Hinata cares about him?"

"He has since the Academy, if Shikamaru, here, is to be believed." Kurenai said, pointing at Shikamaru. "They both said that he kept it quiet to protect her. Right, Shikamaru?"

No answer.

"Hey, Shikamaru..."

Still no answer.

"You still alive, over there?"

This time, they heard a light snore.

Asuma palmed his forehead. "He's doing it again... I told him not to do this during briefings and mission reports!" He said, walking over to Shikamaru and giving him a good, solid bop to the back of the head, knocking him onto the floor. Shikamaru yelled "Leave my waffins alone!" before sitting up and yawning, then sleepily looking around.

"Is it..." He gave another yawn, "Is it over yet? Can we go now?" He perked up when he noticed the odd looks he was getting. "Umm... Is something on my face?"

"What the hell is a waffin?" Asked Tenten, scratching her head. Shikamaru looked at her like she'd grown another head.

"A waffin? What the hell? And people say Naruto's wierd. I've never heard of a waffin before, why don't you ask Naruto?" Tsunade shook her head before repeating her question.

"Shikamaru, tell me honestly. Did Naruto tell you he had feelings for Hinata during the academy?"

"Ummm, no comment." A warning glare from Tsunade changed his mind. With a glare at the rest of the SRS, he said, "Yes. We had meant to keep it quiet until nobody wanted to screw up Naruto's chances with her. But Pinky-Bitch and Duck-ass Head ruined that." When Sakura opened her mouth to respond, Shikamaru said, "Pinky, if you say shit about me or Naruto, or any-damn-thing about your precious _Sasuke-kun_, I'm gonna do the world a favor and sew your mouth shut. So you'd better think twice." Sakura stuck her nose in the air.

"You're all bark and no bite. You know damn well that Tsunade-sama wouldn't allow you to do that to me." Shikamaru responded by forming some hand signs and saying, "Mouth-Sealing Jutsu!" Out of nowhere, a bunch of needles appeared, sewing Sakura's mouth closed before she could even draw a breath to scream.

"Let this be a lesson to you, Sakura. Your arrogance has gotten the best of you. Now, Otoha, Yurine. Go get Naruto, and tell him to come here. Put your friend on that couch." Tsunade pointed to the couch on the left side of the room. "Shizune!" A woman dressed in a black kimono came through the door. Her black eyes glanced over everyone in the room, stopping momentarily on Otoha and Yurine. She quickly returned her attention to Tsunade.

"You called, Tsunade-sama?"

"Bring me a blanket and a pillow, please."

"Right away, Tsunade-sama." Shizune bowed before hurrying out of the room, returning a minute later with the items requested. She put the pillow at the end of the sofa, then backed off as Otoha laid Amefuriko down and covered her with the blanket.

"I'll be back soon. I promise." He whispered in her ear. He then stood up. "Yurine, let's go. We should get Naruto back here as quickly as possible. If she wakes up here, she's going to be scared and confused." Yurine nodded, and they both vanished.

**Hyuuga Compound, A Few Minutes Later**

Otoha looked over the walls, looking for a good place to jump over.

"Otoha-kun, why don't we just go to the gate and ask for Naruto-san?" Yurine asked. Otoha stopped and shrugged.

"It's worth a shot. Let's go." When they reached the gate, they were stopped by the guards.

"Halt! State your name and business here!" the guard on the left said.

"We were sent by Hokage-sama. She wishes to see Naruto-san, and we were told that he could be found here." Otoha stated. "I am Otoha, and this is Yurine." The guard who had spoken nodded and turned to his companion.

"Escort them to the waiting room, then go see if Hiashi-sama is done with Naruto-san." The right-side guard saluted, then turned to Otoha and Yurine.

"Follow me, please. Right this way." He said, leading them into the Compound.

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"So, when Hinata died, you were radiating too much Youki for the rest of the squad to survive, so Sonja sent some of it into Hinata's body, reviving her and mending her body?" Hiashi reiterated.

"That's the short version, yes. But, unfortunately, that's all it did. I had to manually repair her eyes, and it's going to take either Tsunade-baachan, about ten of our best medics, or... Yeah, either Baachan or about ten of our best medics to heal her nervous system."

"There are no other options?"

"Other than waiting a few years for her nervous system to recover on its own? Only one. But, I don't want to push our luck, so that's only gonna be a very last resort."

"What is this last option?" Hiashi asked. Naruto looked nervous.

"Umm... If Sonja's chakra has already run its course from earlier, I could inject some directly into her nervous system. However, if I do, it may do one of four things: it could heal her, as planned; it could turn her into a Kitsune Youko; it could turn her into a Kitsune Hanyou; or it could... well, it could..." Naruto trailed off.

"What could it do, Naruto-san? Please, tell us." Hiashi requested.

"It could kill her from the sudden introduction of foreign, demonic chakra. Or at least render her unconscious for a few weeks to several months, with ample life support." Naruto shook his head. "But I don't want to risk it unless we've exhausted every last one of our other options or she insists. I don't... I don't want to lose Hinata again because of a mistake I made." At that moment there was a knock at the door.

"Hiashi-sama? Tsunade-sama wishes to see Naruto-san as soon as possible. She has two messengers in the waiting room, waiting for your reply." Naruto canceled his sound-suppression jutsu while the man on the other side of the door finished speaking.

"Very well, inform them that I will meet them soon. Come, Naruto-san, let us meet these messengers." Naruto nodded, then rose to a kneeling position, picking up Hinata before rising all the way to his feet. He bowed his head to Hiashi, who nodded his head, then went to the door and opened it for Naruto to carry Hinata through, closing it behind himself when he followed them out.

**Hyuuga compound, Waiting room**

Otoha paced back and forth over the carpet next to the chair where Yurine sat, still as a statue except her head, as she watched him pace with an amused expression on her face.

"Otoha-kun, would you stop and relax, already? You're wearing a hole in the carpet."

"But, Yurine-chan, I'm worried about Amefuriko. She's come through everything but this without shedding more than a few tears. This time, she cried her heart out until she fell asleep. I've gotta figure out some way to cheer her up. It's killing me that I couldn't- THAT'S IT!!!" he suddenly exclaimed, startling Yurine. "I'll... yeah, that'll work.." he said to himself.

"Er, Otoha-kun? What'll work?" She asked just before Naruto and Hiashi walked through the door. Naruto's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas.

"Bro! What's up? What're you and Yurine-nee-chan doing here? Shouldn't you be talking to Baa-chan about whether you'll be allowed to stay here?" Otoha gave Naruto his small, tight-lipped smile.

"Actually, when we mentioned that, she said she had something to give you. I think she wants to give you an early birthday gift." Naruto stopped, looking at Otoha, confused.

"An early birthday- OH! My birthday's in two days! Shimatta, I've gotta reinforce those trap seals by tomorrow night!" Hinata, Hiashi, Otoha, and Yurine looked at him, not even bothering to try and hide their shock, which quickly morphed into horror as he continued. "Then I've gotta recharge my alarm seals, place those clones in a perimeter, make sure they're henge'd, and restock on food... not to mention-" He stopped when he remembered who was around him. "... Well, shit... Hey, people, don't have a heart attack on me now! It's only gonna be for the night of my birthday!" Hinata and Yurine fainted. "Err... That was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... Yeah, it was, Naruto." Otoha said, as he attempted to wake Yurine. Hiashi shook his head.

"Naruto-san, would you mind explaining why you take such drastic defensive measures on your birthday?" Hiashi asked, half-expecting the answer.

"Well, when I was a kid, before I graduated from the academy, I was chased daily by mobs, except when I was near Hokage Tower. On the night of the Kyuubi Festival, my birthday, the mobs were so much worse that I was often in the hospital for... far greater amounts of time. So Ojiji Sandaime decided to have me stay home that day every year, and taught me to place chakra into those seals that he placed at interlacing webs in, and around, my apartment. The clones I added after graduation because some of the Shinobi wanted to continue their attacks on me at night when I was asleep. It's just become a habit of mine to do all of that stuff over the years. I started increasing my security when Akatsuki started coming after me. Nowadays I've got that stuff going 24/7, just in case Itachi decides to come back." Hiashi sighed again, nodding sadly. _'Minato... I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for your son... But I'll do whatever it takes to be there for him from now on, and to support him in whatever he does.'_

"Naruto-san, anytime you find yourself in trouble, you are welcome here. I will let the guards know that you are to be allowed to come and go as you please. Now, we should get going to see Hokage-sama. It wouldn't do to keep her waiting. Wake them and let's go." Hiashi said. Moments later, Hinata and Yurine were starting to slowly come around, and the group started on their way to Tsunade's office.

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"Oi! We're-" Otoha quickly clapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, pointing to the couch.

"Not so loud! She needs to continue resting." he hissed. When Naruto nodded, he slowly removed his hand, moving to kneel next to the woman on the couch.

"Hey, who sewed the Banshee's mouth shut?" Naruto said. "You beat me to it. I was gonna do it myself, tonight." Shikamaru yawned.

"You're welcome. And, uh, bad news. Somebody told Tsunade-sama about you and Hinata. Get ready to be drilled with a lot of questions. So troublesome. I'm going back to sleep- wake me when it's over." Shikamaru just stood there, head bowed.

"Yep, he's out... Again." Asuma said. Naruto stood defiantly.

"Ask what you want. I'm not afraid of loving Hinata. I'll do anything for her, and that's a promise!" He declared.

"Well, actually, we're all sure that you mean the best for Hinata. But, we'd like to know- how long have you known about Hinata's feelings for you, exactly?" Tsunade asked. Naruto thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Not quite sure. Since a couple of months into the year that we first met, during the Academy, I guess."

"And how long have you felt the same way?" Naruto shot her a quick glare.

"I'll be straight with you. I hardly remember not loving her or not knowing about her love." His face softened. "She is my life, now; I can't imagine what my life would be like now if she hadn't come in."

"I... see... Hiashi-san, you are okay with their choice to be together, correct?" Tsunade asked Hiashi, who nodded.

"I more than approve of it," he said, tossing a blank scroll at Shikamaru's head, waking him again. Shikamaru swore loudly when the scroll connected, knocking him to the ground and waking him again. "Glad you could rejoin us, Nara-san." Shikamaru shot to his feet, eyes wide as he panicked. However, he relaxed when he heard Hiashi's low chuckle. "Kiba did not seem happy with Hinata's choice, however, and so we have come to the conclusion that he and Naruto-san are to fight for my daughter's hand. We have not-"

"If there's no need for the rest of us to be here, then can we go, Baachan? I'm really in the mood for some karaoke..." Naruto interrupted, causing the rest of the Konoha 9 to nod. Tsunade turned red with irritation before she noticed Hiashi shivering with suppressed laughter. She sighed and nodded. Naruto cheered, saying, "Alright, tonight, it's all on me, guys! Let's go! But first, Baachan, we need you to heal Hinata-chan's nervous system. Sasuke-teme's Chidori fried her. Kyuubi was barely able to save her."

Tsunade sighed again. "Alright. Take her with you to enjoy your Karaoke party tonight. I'll take a look at her tomorrow morning, first thing. Bring her to the hospital as soon as you wake up. If I'm not there, ask somebody to come and wake me up." Naruto nodded, grinning.

"Thanks, Tsunade-sama! You're the best! Alright, guys, let's go!"

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**A\N:** Well, you know the drill. Next chap Naruto & Gang go to Karaoke, Hiashi talks to the Hyuuga Elders, and Otoha, Yurine, and Amefuriko put the almighty Fear of God into the Village Elders! Stay Tuned!

P.S. I'm sorry I took so long getting this out. Like I said, it's been hell trying to get online lately. Also, I'll be taking a very, very, _VERY_ long time getting next chapter out. Why? Well... I'm going into the Military- that means very little 'Me' time. But as I also said, I absolutely, positively _WILL NOT_ abandon this story, or my other. I hate when other authors do that, and I'll not piss anybody off by doing that, myself. I'd likely piss myself off, in the process, as well. So, your stories will still continue- albeit extremely slowly. Again, deepest apologies.


	8. PostMission Action

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Deaths Aprentis:** C'mon, guys, do I really gotta say it?

**Otoha:** Yes, you do.

Naruto: Do you really wanna get charged with-

**Deaths Aprentis:** GAH! NOT YOU TOO!

**Otoha:** .....

Naruto: .....

**Deaths Aprentis:** The lawyers got to you, too..... T-T Fine... I don't own Naruto, Karas, or anything in between them...

**Otoha** and Naruto: YOU'RE FREE!!! SEXY PARTY TIME!!! *A horde of half-nude strippers runs in*

**Deaths Aprentis:** 0.0

**Otoha **and Naruto: What?

**Deaths Aprentis: **Yeah... You guys had better run as if your lives depend on it... *points behind them. Otoha and Naruto turn around to see Yurine and Hinata standing there, eyes glowing red.* Because judging by their faces, it's likely that they do...

**Otoha** and Naruto: Ummm..... We can explain! *Yurine and Hinata take a step towards them* AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! *They run away as if the Devil is hot on their asses- which they are*

**Deaths Aprentis:** Oooooookay... That... was interesting. Chapter, go!

**A/N:** I'll be using a number of songs in this chapter. I personally suggest that you play them while reading them, so as to fully appreciate them-it helps me. The titles are as follows:

This Is Me by Demi Lovato

Remember the Name by Fort Minor

When You Look Me In The Eyes by the Jonas Brothers

Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback

Sorry, Blame It On Me by Akon

Also, a few of you may be upset with Naruto's 'new' personality. I suppose that an explanation is in order. My explanation is this.

NARUTO WILL NOT BE TAKING ANYMORE CRAP FROM ANYONE WHO TRIES TO BRING HIM DOWN. Sakura is a prime example of this- which brings me to something else.

Some of you have complained about Sakura being bashed, and this is my response-

DEAL WITH IT... or get lost. I don't take random flames just because you don't like the way I treat one character. Also, if you've read my profile, you know that I really don't like Sakura. I will be bashing her and Sasuke throughout this fic, so if you don't like that, then instead of being a jackass and pissing me off, go read another fic- or better yet, write your own. Kiba... well, I'm gonna say that he won't be a problem after his fight with Naruto. Let's just leave it at that.

OH! One final little tidbit. This will be a slight crossover with the video game 'The Darkness'- Naruto will get the power that Jackie Estacado and the rest of his ancestors do. This is kinda turning into a 'Super Naruto' fic, isn't it? Well, go read the chapter. Go on, enjoy it.

**Chapter 8: Post- Mission Craziness**

"So, Bro..." Naruto said, looking at Otoha with a sly smirk on his face. "Only a few hours in Konoha and you've already made a girl faint? You're good, man." Naruto eased Otoha, looking at Amefuriko, who was in Otoha's arms.

"Well, what about you? I hear that you made Hinata faint just by looking at her before. You must be quite the ladies' man, by now." Otoha teased back.

"Nah. I've got Hinata. I'm perfectly happy, all jokes aside. But seriously, who is she? I'm pretty sure she's-"

"She's also a Karas. She watched over a city near mine. Some shit happened, and she was brought here. That's all I can say, now. So, where's this Karaoke place?" Otoha said. Naruto chuckled.

"We're here." Otoha looked up, then shook his head. "Kicking yourself? Don't. Even I had trouble finding this place the first few times."

"Wait, _you?_ Mister Photographic Memory?" Tenten asked skeptically.

"I said I had a damn near photographic memory. I'm not quite there. Well, let's go." Naruto replied, walking in. "Oh, um, girls..." He said, stopping before they walked in. "This place is... sort of a combination strip joint-Karaoke bar. Try not to lose your heads, it's the only place that doesn't kick me out on sight. I can't showcase my music anywhere else." The girls just stared.

"You... You showcase music?" Ino asked slowly.

"It's... a _strip joint?"_ Tenten growled.

"Tenten, think about it this way. I was looking for a place to showcase my music. Neji, Shikamaru, Lee, and Chouji suggested a few places. The people at the front desks took one look at me and chased me out. I came upon this place- the sign said 'Musical Heaven.' I thought I'd take a look. They didn't chase me out, but when I walked in, I saw why. I guess they thought I'd take one look, see the... exhibitionists... and run out and never come back. Well, I did run out, but then I came back with Neji, Lee, and Shino to showcase a few of our songs a couple of months after we started our band." Naruto started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Tenten demanded.

"That's the first time I ever saw Neji do a double take and turn as red as Hinata at the same time!" he choked out through his laughter. The others froze as it sank in, then they laughed, as well. Neji simply walked through the door, the rest following.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Table for 12, please." Neji said to the receptionist, everyone else standing behind him.

"So, the Demons' Voice is back to give us another performance?" she said with a smile.

"Yes. We've brought a few friends with us this time, though. Don't worry, Kei, we'll keep the girls strapped down, if necessary." Neji quipped, ignoring their cries of protest. The receptionist just laughed, gesturing for them to follow. They went with her, walking through the thick royal purple curtains and into the main area. Someone was just finishing a song when they sat down. "Hey Naruto, you got eveything?" Neji asked as Kei went up to announce their arrival. Naruto just smirked, pulling his sleeves back to reveal a few storage seals on his arms- one on each wrist, and one on his right forearm.

"What do you think?"

"Hey, there, Musical Heaven, it's... it's been awhile since we've heard a few original songs, hasn't it?" Kei said over the mic. All of the audience cheered. "Well, I've got some good news for you! Our favorite voice... IS BACK!" She shouted. The audience cheered again.

"Neji, Shino, Lee. Mass Hell Shunshin, just like we practiced, alright?" Naruto whispered. The other three nodded. They flashed a quick smile at the rest of their party, then quickly walked out the first curtain.

"Well, please, let's not keep them off the stage any longer! Please help me welcome... THE DEMONS' VOICE!!!" Kei yelled into the microphone. As soon as the words left her mouth, the stage behind her started to shimmer. The shimmer quickly condensed, then suddenly erupted into a pillar of flame that engulfed the stage. Just as soon as it erupted, it vanished, revealing Neji, Shino, Naruto, and Lee at their respective positions- Lee at the drums with his sticks in the air, Neji standing back to back with Shino, his Guitar hanging on his shoulder, Shino's Bass hanging on his own. Naruto stood facing the audience. He, Neji, and Shino stood with their heads slightly bowed, arms crossed, and feet planted at shoulder width. All four wore a black shirt with a red Kitsune head in the middle, and black pants with a thick red stripe down the outside sides. Naruto, Shino, and Neji each wore a trench coat with the same color scheme, and a Konoha Spiral on the back. Lee sported his Konoha Spiral on the back of his shirt.

"Wow....." Tenten said, voicing the thoughts of the entire audience. Naruto smirked as he took slow, measured steps through the mist that had appeared when the Demons' Voice had appeared; it wreathed the stage and swirled around the four as Naruto approached the mic.

"Well... I must say, I'm impressed, Musical Heaven. Not many would trust us the way you do. I speak for all of us when I say, Thank you for your trust. But... It's been too long since we came to visit. We haven't played for you for far too long. Well, we've got just the remedy for that. We'll give you, our friends, our greatest fans, the honor of having our very first concert." Naruto's voice was low, almost enchanting. When he finished, the audience cheered once more, louder than ever. "We'll start out with a song that I wound up writing right after the last time we were here. This one's called 'Remember The Name.'" Naruto nodded to Neji, Lee, and Shino, and they started to play. When they got to the right point Naruto started singing.

_"You ready? Lets go!_

_Yeah, for those of you that want to know what we're all about_

_It's like this y'all c'mon_

_It's just ten percent luck_

_Twenty percent skill_

_Fifteen percent concentrated power of will_

_Five percent pleasure_

_Fifty percent pain_

_And a hundred percent reason to remember the name_

_Mike_

_He doesn't need his name up in lights_

_He just wants to be heard whether it's the beat or the mic_

_He feels so unlike everybody else, alone_

_In spite of the fact that some people still think that they know him_

_But fuck em'_

_He knows the code_

_It's not about the salary_

_It's all about reality and makin' some noise_

_Makin' the story_

_Makin' sure his clique stays up_

_That means when he puts it down Tak's pickin' it up_

_Who the hell is he anyway?_

_He never really talks much_

_Never concerned with status but still leavin' them star struck_

_Humbled through opportunities given despite the fact_

_That many misjudge him because he makes a livin' from writin raps_

_Put it together himself, now the picture connects_

_Never askin for someone's help, to get some respect_

_He's only focused on what he wrote, his will is beyond reach_

_And now it all unfolds, the skill of an artist_

_It's just twenty percent skill_

_Eighty percent fear_

_Be one hundred percent clear 'cause Ryu is ill_

_Who would've thought that he'd be the one to set the west in flames_

_And I heard him wreckin' with The Crystal Method, Name Of The Game_

_Came back dropped Megadef, took 'em to church_

_I'm like 'bleach, man, why you have the stupidest verse?'_

_This dude is the truth, now everybody givin' him guest spots_

_His stock's through the roof I heard he fuckin' with S-Dot!_

_It's just ten percent luck_

_Twenty percent skill_

_Fifteen percent concentrated power of will_

_Five percent pleasure_

_Fifty percent pain_

_And a hundred percent reason to remember the name_

_They call him Ryu the sick_

_And he's spittin fire at Mike_

_Got him out the dryer he's hot_

_Found him in Fort Minor with Tak_

_Been a fuckin' annihilist porcupine_

_He's a prick, he's a cock_

_The type women want to be with_

_And rappers hope he gets shot_

_Eight years in the makin'_

_Patiently waitin to blow_

_Now the record with Shinoda's takin' over the globe_

_He's got a partner in crime his shit is equally dope_

_You wont believe the kind of shit that comes out of this kid's throat_

_Tak_

_He's not your everyday on the block_

_He knows how to work with what he's got_

_Makin' his way to the top_

_People think its a common owners name_

_People keep askin him was it given at birth_

_Or does it stand for an acronym?_

_No he's livin' proof_

_Got him rockin' the booth_

_He'll get you buzzin' quicker than a shot of vodka with juice_

_Him and his crew are known around as one of the best_

_Dedicated to what they doin give a hundred percent_

_Forget Mike_

_Nobody really knows how or why he works so hard_

_It seems like he's never got time_

_Because he writes every note and he writes every line_

_And I've seen him at work when that light goes on in his mind_

_It's like a design is written in his head every time_

_Before he even touches a key or speaks in a rhyme_

_And those motherfuckers he runs with, those kids that he signed_

_Ridiculous, without even tryin', how do they do it?_

_It's just ten percent luck_

_Twenty percent skill_

_Fifteen percent concentrated power of will_

_Five percent pleasure_

_Fifty percent pain_

_And a hundred percent reason to remember the name_

_It's just ten percent luck_

_Twenty percent skill_

_Fifteen percent concentrated power of will_

_Five percent pleasure_

_Fifty percent pain_

_And a hundred percent reason to remember the name_

_Yeah_

_Fort Minor, M. Shinoda_

_Styles of Beyond, Ryu, Takbir_

_Machine Shop"_

The crowd cheered wildly as they finished playing, and bowed.

"So, Musical Heaven, how was that?" The crowd cheered in response to Naruto's question. He smiled. "Well, we've got more coming! This one's called 'Blame It On Me.' I was thinking one day, and I realized that most people take out their frustrations on the closest thing to the thing, or person, whatever caused their frustration, or anger, or sadness, whatever. So I wrote this song to tell you that I'll take it, if it keeps my friends safe." He then nodded to Shino, Lee, and Neji, and they started to play.

_"As life goes on I'm starting to learn more and more about responsibility_

_And I realize that everything I do is affecting the people around me_

_So I want to take this time out to apologize for things that_

_I've done, things that haven't occurred yet_

_and things that they don't want to take responsibility for_

_I'm sorry for the times that I left you home_

_I was on the road and you were alone_

_I'm sorry for the times that I had to go_

_I'm sorry for the fact that I did not know_

_That you were sitting home just wishing we_

_Could go back to when it was just you and me_

_I'm sorry for the times I would neglect_

_I'm sorry for the times I disrespect_

_I'm sorry for the wrong things that I've done_

_I'm sorry I'm not always there for my sons_

_I'm sorry for the fact that I'm not aware_

_That you can't sleep at night when I am not there_

_Because I'm in the streets like everyday_

_I'm sorry for the things that I did not say_

_Like how you are the best thing in my world_

_And how I'm so proud to call you my girl_

_I understand that there's some problems_

_And I'm not too blind to know_

_All the pain you kept inside you_

_Even though you might not show_

_If I can't apologize for being wrong_

_Then it's just a shame on me_

_I'll be the reason for your pain_

_And you can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_Said you can put the blame on me_

_Said you can put the blame on me_

_Said you can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_I'm sorry for the things that he put you through_

_And all the times you didn't know what to do_

_I'm sorry that you had to go and sell those bags_

_Just trying to stay busy until you heard from dad_

_When you would rather be home with all your kids_

_As one big family with love and bliss_

_And even though pops treated us like kings_

_He got a second wife and you didn't agree_

_He got up and left you there all alone_

_I'm sorry that you had to do it on your own_

_I'm sorry that I went and added to your grief_

_I'm sorry that your son was once a thief_

_I'm sorry that I grew up way too fast_

_I wish I would of listened and not be so bad_

_I'm sorry that your life turned out this way_

_I'm sorry that the feds came and took me away_

_I understand that there's some problems_

_And I'm not too blind to know_

_All the pain you kept inside you_

_Even though you might not show_

_If I can't apologize for being wrong_

_Then it's just a shame on me_

_I'll be the reason for your pain_

_And you can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_Said you can put the blame on me_

_Said you can put the blame on me_

_Said you can put the blame on me_

_You can put the blame on me_

_I'm sorry that it took so long to see_

_But they were dead wrong trying to put it on me_

_I'm sorry that it took so long to speak_

_But I was on tour with Gwen Stefani_

_I'm sorry for the hand that she was dealt_

_And for the embarrassment that she felt_

_She's just a little young girl trying to have fun_

_But daddy should of never let her out that young_

_I'm sorry for Club Zen getting shut down_

_I hope they manage better next time around_

_How was I to know she was underage_

_In a 21 and older club they say_

_Why doesn't anybody want to take blame_

_Verizon backed out disgracing my name_

_I'm just a singer trying to entertain_

_Because I love my friends I'll take that blame_

_Even though the blame's on you_

_Even though the blame's on you_

_Even though the blame's on you_

_I'll take that blame from you_

_And you can put that blame on me_

_And you can put that blame on me_

_You can put that blame on me_

_You can put that blame on me_

_And you can put that blame on me_

_And you can put that blame on me"_

"Alright. Now, many people aren't fortunate enough to find their special someone by the point that I did, and I'm pretty sure that this song... It'll describe exactly how they feel, and how I felt before I found my special someone, who's sitting in the audience tonight. This one is called, 'Gotta Be Somebody.' Don't give up if you haven't found your significant other, yet- I'm absolutely positive that you will." Neji, Shino, and Lee started playing as soon as he finished talking.

_"This time, I wonder what it feels like_

_To find the one in this life, the one we all dream of_

_But dreams just aren't enough_

_So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling_

_The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene_

_Straight off the silver screen_

_So I'll be holding my own breath, right up 'til the end_

_Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with_

_Cause nobody wants to be the last one there_

_Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares_

_Someone to love with my life in their hands_

_There's gotta be somebody for me like that_

_Cause nobody wants to go it on their own_

_And everyone wants to know they're not alone_

_There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere_

_There's gotta be somebody for me out there_

_Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight_

_And dammit this feels too right, it's just like deja vu_

_Me standing here with you_

_So I'll be holding my own breath, could this be the end_

_Is it that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with_

_Cause nobody wants to be the last one there_

_Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares_

_Someone to love with my life in their hands_

_There's gotta be somebody for me like that_

_Cause nobody wants to go it on their own_

_And everyone wants to know they're not alone_

_There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere_

_There's gotta be somebody for me out there_

_You can't give up, when you're looking for a diamond in the rough_

_You never know, when it shows up, make sure you're holding on_

_Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on_

_Cause nobody wants to be the last one there_

_And everyone wants to feel like someone cares_

_Someone to love with my life in their hands_

_There's gotta be somebody for me, ohhh_

_Nobody wants to go it on their own_

_And everyone wants to know they're not alone_

_There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere_

_There's gotta be somebody for me out there_

_Nobody wants to be the last one there_

_Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares_

_There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere_

_There's gotta be somebody for me out there"_

"Alright, now, this one, I wrote to be sung by myself and my significant other. Unfortunately, she's too shy to be up singing in front of a crowd, so, instead..." Naruto looked at Neji. "I think I'll pass off the mic to Neji and his significant other." Neji nodded, giving his guitar to Naruto and walking to the mic. Naruto slipped a small device to Neji in the exchange. "This will teach her the lyrics. Put it in her ear." Neji nodded and spoke into the microphone.

"Hey, Tenten, don't be shy- it's not like you. Come on up, sing with me." Neji said. Tenten beamed and quickly walked to the stage. As she gave him a quick hug, he whispered in her ear. "The device I'm about to give you- put it in your ear, flat side in. It'll teach you the lyrics to this song. You shouldn't feel more than you would a papercut." Tenten nodded, taking the device and putting it in her ear. She suddenly froze, glaring daggers at Naruto. Neji chuckled. "Looks like she doesn't like it, Naruto." Naruto shot him a look that said, 'Naww. You think?' and went back to waiting for them to announce the song. "Alright, folks, this one's called 'This Is Me.' Naruto wrote it to be sung by him and my cousin. He wrote it because he wanted a song that would let everyone hear her 'flawless voice.' However, he knows that I vehemently disagree. Nobody can match my Tenten." Neji said, smiling his famous 'Hyuuga Smile.' He looked at Tenten, who nodded, taking a deep breath. He gave her the mic, then went and got the one in front of Naruto. He raised his hand, then dropped it, signaling them to start playing.

_[Tenten]_

_"I've always been the kind of girl_

_That hid my face_

_So afraid to tell the world, What I've got to say_

_But I have this dream, Bright inside of me_

_I'm gonna let it show, it's time, to let you know_

_To let you know_

_This is real, this is me_

_I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now_

_Gonna let the light, Shine on me_

_Now I've found, who I am, there's no way to hold it in_

_No more hiding who I want to be_

_This is me_

_Do you know what it's like?_

_To feel so in the dark_

_To dream about a life, when you're a shining star_

_Even though it seems, like its too far away_

_I have to believe, in myself_

_It's the only way_

_This is real, this is me_

_I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now_

_Gonna let the light, shine on me_

_Now I've found, who I am_

_There's no way to hold it in_

_No more hiding who I want to be_

_This is me"_

_[Neji]_

_"You're the voice I hear inside my head_

_The reason that I'm singing_

_I need to find you, I got to find you_

_You're the missing piece I need_

_The song inside of me_

_I need to find you"_

_[Both]_

_"I got to find you"_

_[Tenten]_

_"This is real, this is me"_

_[Both]_

_"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now, gonna let the light, shine on me_

_Now I've found who I am, there's no way to hold it in_

_No more hiding who I want to be_

_Yeah"_

_[Tenten]_

_"This is me"_

_[Neji]_

_"You're the missing piece I need, the song inside of me"_

_[Tenten]_

_"This is me"_

_[Neji]_

_"You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing"_

_[Both]_

_"Now I've found, who I am_

_There's no way to hold it in_

_No more hiding who I want to be_

_This is me"_

When they finished, Tenten smiled at Neji, who hugged her, whispering. "Hey, go easy on Naruto, or at least wait until our concert is over. Then you can chase him down and maul him all you like. 'Kay?" Tenten nodded, walking to Naruto, giving him a hug.

"So, did you dislike the words themselves, or the context?" he asked.

"Both." she said, slipping his device into his hand. She gave Shino and Lee a hug each, then made her way back to their table.

"Well, we're starting to get tired and hungry, but we'll give you one more song, alright?" Neji said into the mic. "This one was also written by our songwriter- it's called 'When You Look Me In The Eyes.' It was written for- who else?- his significant other. But he figured it would also describe how the rest of us would feel when we found ours. So, Naruto, you mind if I...?" Neji trailed off, looking at Naruto, who smiled and nodded.

"Go for it, man." Naruto said to him. He then nodded to Shino and Lee, giving them the go-ahead.

_"If the heart is always searching,_

_Can you ever find a home?_

_I've been looking for that someone,_

_I'll never make it on my own._

_Dreams can't take the place of loving you,_

_There's gotta be a million reasons why it's true._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_And tell me that you love me._

_Everything's alright,_

_When you're right here by my side._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_I catch a glimpse of heaven._

_I find my paradise,_

_When you look me in the eyes._

_How long will I be waiting,_

_To be with you again?_

_Gonna tell you that I love you,_

_In the best way that I can._

_I can't take a day without you here,_

_You're the light that makes my darkness disappear._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_And tell me that you love me._

_Everything's alright,_

_When you're right here by my side._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_I catch a glimpse of heaven._

_I find my paradise,_

_When you look me in the eyes._

_Movin' on, I start to realize,_

_I can reach my tomorrow,_

_I can hold my head up high,_

_And it's all because you're by my side._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_And tell me that you love me._

_Everything's alright,_

_When you're right here by my side._

_When I hold you in my arms,_

_I know that its forever._

_I just gotta let you know,_

_I never wanna let you go._

_When you look me in the eyes._

_And tell me that you love me._

_Everything's alright,_

_When you're right here by my side._

_When you look me in the eyes,_

_I catch a glimpse of heaven._

_I find my paradise,_

_When you look me in the eyes._

_Oh" _

"Alright, people, that's all we've got for tonight. We'll make sure to stop by again with some more new songs as soon as we've got the time. 'Til then, have fun, everybody!" Neji called out. The Demons' Voice then left in identical fashion that they arrived.

"So, what'd you think?" Naruto asked, reclaiming his spot next to Hinata. Hinata smiled as he pulled her into his lap.

"You were perfect, Naru-kun," She murmured. Naruto smiled and kissed her forehead.

"You guys were awesome! You've gotta bring Otoha into your band!" Amefuriko exclaimed, surprising everyone but Otoha.

"We haven't met, have we? I'm pretty sure I would remember someone so... outspoken." Shino said.

"My name is Rock Lee, Konoha's Ha-" Tenten whacked Lee over the head with a mace.

"Sorry about him. My name is Tenten. You are...?" Tenten asked.

"My name's Amefuriko. Is he always like that?" Amefuriko said.

Neji sighed. "We've been trying to undo Gai-sensei's brainwashing since we graduated from the Academy. That was nearly five years ago. As you can see, we've had no luck." Neji replied. "Where are my manners? My name is Neji Hyuuga."

"I'm Chouji, and the chainsaw impression over here is Shikamaru."

"Chouji, Why didn't you introduce me? I'm Ino, by the way. So why, Chouji?"

"Cuz you would've gotten upset either way." Chouji stated.

"Ignore them." Shino said in his silent, slightly creepy voice as Chouji and Ino started arguing. "My name is Shino. The blonde boy is Naruto Uzumaki, and the girl in his arms is my teammate, Hinata."

"I see. Is that Ino girl always like that?"Amefuriko asked.

"Normally, yes. But you can usually quiet her down by throwing her in a lake. She'll spend a few hours trying to get the gunk out of her hair and clothes." Naruto chimed in. "That's saved me quite a few headaches. Jeez, ever since my spar with Lee after my training trip, she was constantly trying to get me to go out with her." Naruto said, shaking his head.

"So you are a ladies' man." Otoha teased him again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Hyuuga Council Chamber**

"Hiashi, what have you brought us here for? I hope you have a good reason for disturbing our sleep." One of the Councilors snapped.

"I do."

"Then please, Hiashi, do let us know what is so urgent that it couldn't wait for morning." The Councilor said sarcastically. Hiashi smiled.

"As you may know, my daughter is-"

"That failure? What interest could she hold for us?"

"If you could stop and listen for a moment, Elder. You may know that she is romantically interested in Naruto Uzumaki. They, along with Kiba Inuzuka, came to me earlier tonight. We came to the conclusion that Uzumaki and Inuzuka will fight for her hand." Hiashi gave the scroll to one of the Elders, for them to read. When they finished, however, the Elder picked up a brush. Hiashi quickly retrieved the scroll. "Excuse me, Elder, what are you doing?"

"Adding a rule. 'No Demonic assistance shall be rendered in this battle.'"

"Then you shall also add the rule, 'No animals shall be used in this battle.'"

"But the animal is an invaluable component of the Inuzuka's arsenal!" The Elder protested, infuriating Hiashi.

"And the Kyuubi is not a component of Uzumaki's arsenal?" He snapped in return. The Elders were now thoroughly shocked. Hiashi was arguing with them! "He has demonstrated time and time again that the demon is of no threat to us so long as he lives. He has also demonstrated that so long as he lives, he will fight- and if necessary, die- for Konoha!"

"But every day that he lives, there is also the risk that the seal will break and the Kyuubi will be freed." The Elder reminded Hiashi.

"And you never realized that after being so intimately bonded to the boy, it would infuriate the Kyuubi even more for the boy to be punished for the demon's sins?" Seeing their confused faces, Hiashi explained. "Demons are very proud creatures. They despise their punishment being meted out on anyone but those who deserve it! And they most definitely do not approve of even the most vile of enemies being tortured the way Uzumaki has been! But, of course, you do not know the Kyuubi's secret." Hiashi gave an uncharacteristic, full-blown grin. "Unfortunately, Uzumaki has not given me permission to share it. He wishes to tell you himself."

"Then where is he?" The Elders looked around, half-expecting him to walk in the door.

Hiashi wore an infuriatingly smug smirk as he answered. "That, good Elders, can wait for tomorrow. Sleep well!" He turned and walked out of the chamber.

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**Konoha Hospital, Next Morning- 0830 Hours**

"Oi, Baa-chan, you here?" Naruto called out as he entered the hospital lobby.

"Yes, Gaki, I'm here. Let's take a look at your girlfriend." Tsunade said, rubbing hr temples. "And please try to quiet down a bit. This is a _hospital_, remember?" Naruto gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry..." He followed Tsunade through the halls, carrying Hinata piggyback, until they arrived at the door to the ER.

"Alright, I need you to wait here. I'll fix Hinata to the best of my ability." Naruto nodded as he let Tsunade take Hinata.

"I'll be waiting right here, Hina-hime. I'll be here when you come out. I promise." Naruto assured her. "Aishiteru."

"Aishiteru, Naru-ouji."

As soon as soon as they disappeared through the doors, Naruto sat down and settled in to wait.

**3 hours later**

Naruto paced impatiently across the floor. _'They should've been back by now! What's taking them so long?!'_ He growled inwardly, also growling impatiently at the door.

"Naruto." Otoha said. He, Yurine, Amefuriko, and the rest of the Konoha 9 had arrived at around 10 and had watched him grow steadily more impatient and progressively more irritable as the time passed.

"Don't start with that 'Patience Is A Virtue' shit." Naruto growled. He shot a glare at Otoha. "My fuse is extremely short right now. The only thing keeping me from bursting through that door right now is the knowledge that if I go in and disrupt their concentration, it could be lethal for Hinata."

"Then why not go obliterate a training ground?" Chouji suggested.

"I _can't!" _Naruto snapped. When he saw Chouji gasp and everyone else's expressions, he sighed and slumped against a wall. "My God, what the hell was I _doing_?! I should've killed that bastard Uchiha when I had the chance!" Naruto sobbed. "Even when he's not here, he's destroying me. Why didn't I just kill him at the Valley?! Why didn't I just follow my gut and kill him?! Why didn't I just bring back his corpse?" Otoha walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Naruto threw his arms around Otoha and continued to sob, not caring who was watching. Everyone who was looked on in sympathy and revulsion- sympathy for the pain that the Uchiha put him through, and revulsion at the pain that the Uchiha's defection was still causing to everyone there. Otoha merely hugged him as one would hug his crying younger brother.

"He's always done this." Otoha said quietly.

"Huh?" Was all that Ino could think to say, which actually summed up everyone's thoughts.

"He's always kept his pain hidden away from everyone by that mask of happiness. And it always built up until he could no longer contain it. He would lock himself in his house and cry until he fell asleep. Then he would put his mask back up and go around like nothing was wrong." He looked at Amefuriko. "Almost like you."

"Chouji," Naruto said, regaining control of himself, "I'm sorry. I've been taking this all on myself. I'm just-" Chouji cut him off.

"Naruto, it's fine. You're just worried about Hinata, right? No harm done. I know you didn't mean for it to come out that way. We're still cool." Chouji smiled. Naruto gave his own tired smile.

"Thanks, Chouji. It means a lot. But I still feel bad, so I'll treat you to a meal at your choice of any restaurant in the village." Naruto offered. _'Uh-oh,' _everyone thought, _'He has no idea what he's gotten himself into.'_ However, Chouji surprised them all with his answer.

"Tempting, Naruto, but your apology is more than enough to make up for it. It's fine, really." Everyone in the room- doctors, nurses, and shinobi alike- stopped. _'Hell didn't just freeze over, did it? An Akimichi, known for their voracious appetites, refusing a FREE MEAL? This can't be happening!'_

"Uh, are you sick or something, Chouji? Usually, you jump at the chance for a free meal." Ino asked.

"No, I'm perfectly fine. I just don't want to blow Naruto's money on repaying me for something that was never a problem." Suddenly the ER doors opened, and Tsunade walked out, carrying Hinata.

"Naruto?" Naruto shot to his feet. "Well, good news and bad news. The good news is that she's got the use of her arms back. "

"Th- the bad news?" Naruto asked, forcing down his fear. _'If she can use her arms, she can't be dead... Why am I so terrified, then?'_

"Well, that's all we could do for her. I had all my best medics in there helping me, and we're all exhausted. This is all we can do for today." Tsunade said.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "Can we try that other option?" Naruto looked terrified at this.

"But, Hina-tenshi, you remember what it could do to you!"

"I know, but I don't want to be like this anymore. And besides, we've got Tsunade-sama here."

"She's out of chakra, Hime," Naruto reminded her. Hinata smiled.

"I'm not." Naruto sighed.

"You're not going to give up on this, are you?" Naruto asked her.

"Nope." Hinata replied cheerfully. Naruto sighed again.

"Alright, you win. But the moment you start feeling wrong, I'm stopping, understand?" Hinata nodded. "Tsunade-sama, we'll need to go somewhere that there'll be no distractions." Naruto said, glancing meaningfully at the doors to the ER. She sighed and nodded.

"Okay, Naruto, Hinata, I want you to tell me exactly what'll be going on in here." Tsunade said as soon as they were inside. "And make it quick, Otoha and Yurine's appointment with the Village Council is going to take place soon."

"How long?"

"About 20 minutes."

Naruto nodded. "Should be more than enough time. What I'm gonna do is, since it's a powerful healing agent in limited quantities, I'll inject a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra into Hinata's nervous system." Naruto explained. "She knows that this is potentially lethal, but she's not going to let it go. Well, let's get this over with." Tsunade stopped him.

"How high are the chances of her dying?" she asked.

"One percent, according to the Kyuubi."

"And how do you know that you can trust him?"

"Kyuubi and I have been on good terms for quite a few years. I think I can trust her."

"But Kyuubi's a demon, aren't they known for- Wait, did you just say, _'her?'_ Kyuubi's a woman?" Tsunade blinked and shook her head. "Wow. That's unexpected. Any chance of any other side-effects?"

"Two-and-a-half percent says she'll turn into a full- blown Kitsune; five percent says she'll turn into a Kitsune hanyou, and the other 91 1/2% says that it'll work as planned." Naruto replied. Tsunade looked at Naruto suspiciously.

"Those seem like pretty good chances, considering that she's a demon, a Kitsune at that."

"Well, like I said, she and I have been on very good terms for about ten years, and our friendship has only gotten stronger." Naruto shrugged. "I trust her. You should, too." He placed his hand on the back of Hinata's neck, and started to inject Sonja's chakra a bit at a time, in five-second intervals for a few minutes. At the end of the few minutes, Naruto pulled back and took Hinata's hand. "Now... we wait."

"Naruto, what if something goes wrong? What will you do?"

"Since it's Kyuubi's chakra, and she's inside me, I can still manipulate it to an extent. If anything goes wrong, I'll withdraw it as fast as safely possible." The moment the words left his mouth, Hinata's eyes shot open as wide as they could go. "Hinata?! What's going on? What's wrong?!"

"N-nothing... and that's why I'm so freaked out. I thought it would be painful, but..." She trailed off thoughtfully.

"But...?" Naruto prompted. Hinata smiled sheepishly.

"It... it's actually starting to feel... kinda good." Naruto froze.

_'Ummm, Sonja? Good, bad, or transforming?'_

**"Hanyou. If she was turning full-demon, she'd be screaming as if you were fucking her brains out."**

_'Ummm..... I don't completely understand.'_

**"Okay. If she was dying, she'd be screaming in pain. If she was staying fully human, she'd just feel a little warm. She's turning into a Hanyou, so she's feeling a bit pleasurable. Turning full-demon... well, I've yet to find anything to make me feel better. It would make her scream in ecstasy."**

_'Oh... I get it now...' _The entire exchange took less than half a second. "Hinata, how badly do you want to stay human?" Naruto asked, causing Hinata and Tsunade to look at him as if he'd just grown three extra heads. "To keep things short, you're becoming a Hanyou. I'll be unable to stop it in five seconds. Make your choice- human or Hanyou?"

"Hanyou." Naruto nodded at her response, accepting her choice.

"So be it. The change shall continue." Tsunade couldn't believe her ears.

"Wait, you're going to allow this? Naruto, this is her _life_ and her _body _we're talking about!" She protested.

"This is exactly why I gave her a choice as soon as I found out what was going on." Naruto said, looking at her with an expression that screamed of his own concern at the outcome. "I'm just worried about what the villagers will think... what they might do to Hina-tenshi." Hinata looked at him, love filling her eyes as she reached up and cupped her hand around his cheek. He grabbed her hand and tilted his face into it.

"Naru-kun, it'll be fine. We'll just explain that it was either this, or my life."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What the hell is taking them so long?!" Ino raged. "First Naruto was getting impatient because Tsunade-sama was taking too long, but now he's doing the same!"

"Ino, Naruto was waiting here an hour before we were. It makes sense that he'd be more impatient than us." Chouji said, trying to calm her down and reason with her. He recoiled from the fierce glare she shot at him.

"Shut it, Chouji! Oh, he's gonna get a huge piece of my mind when he gets back out here..." Ino growled as Tsunade walked out. "Tsunade-sama, where are they? What are they doing?"

"They're right on the other side of the door, waiting for you to calm down." Tsunade said, staring Ino down.

"I'm calmed down..." Ino said in a small voice.

"Good. Now, nobody here is to speak of this to anyone else, understood?" Everyone in the room nodded. "Alright, now this is what happened. Naruto has found that the only remaining option to healing Hinata was to inject her with the Kyuubi's Youki. Well, he did, and it worked... but there was a small side effect... Come on out." Tsunade called towards the door. Naruto walked out, a protective arm around...

Everyone in the room gasped. The girl that walked out with Naruto had indigo-blue hair with silver streaks running through it from the top of her head to the tips that hung right above her waist. Her face was sharper, and her eyes had more of a reddish tint to them than Hinata's regular lavender. Her body was far more defined, and her curves were in all the right places. In a word... She was perfect. And from the air of confidence that surrounded her, she knew it.

"Hinata...?" Ino asked cautiously.

"Yeah, it's me. Hell, if I'd known I'd feel this good with so much attention, I probably never would've used that jacket. I probably never would've gotten Naruto-kun's attention, though." She stopped and looked at Naruto, who was shaking his head disbelievingly.

"Un-freakin'-believable. It takes becoming a Hanyou for you to realize that you're beautiful. You've always been beautiful, my Tenshi, you just couldn't find the self- confidence to admit that to yourself." Naruto told her.

"..... I didn't have the self-confidence.....?" Hinata asked dangerously.

"Let me rephrase that." Naruto said, his amusement clear on his face. "You've always had the self-confidence to admit it to yourself, it was just locked away by your father's and your clan's insults." Hinata thought this over, then nodded.

"That is a better way to word it..." Hinata whispered in Naruto's ear, starting to kiss his neck, and running her hand down his torso, towards his-

Naruto's free hand shot up to catch hers just as she reached his belt. He rolled his eyes as he said, "Hinata, I said, not until after the match. Then we can go there all you want, 'Kay?" He smiled at her apologetically as she pouted at him.

"But I want you now," She whined. Everyone else shook their heads.

"Hey, remember, people, I have to deal with a lot more than this during her time of the month. She'll get a lot more..... _aggressive_." He looked back at Hinata. "Not. Now." Hinata pouted, but obeyed. Naruto looked stunned. "Are you serious? That actually worked?"

"What?"

"Wow. Well, I guess I definitely won't be using _that_ very much. Damn. So I am the Alpha._ Damn._"

"Naruto-kun, what's going on?" Hinata demanded.

"Well, you know how in groups of animals, there's usually a leader?" Everyone nodded. "Well, when that leader gives a command, they usually give off a concentrated blast of pheromones that basically tells the rest of the group that they _have_ to obey. I just tried that with Hina-tenshi. Didn't expect it to _work_."

"You used _mind-control_ on me?!"

"Keep in mind that I didn't expect it to work, and I'm not gonna use it again unless absolutely necessary- meaning in potentially life-threatening situations." He looked at Tsunade. "Didn't you, Bro, Yurine-neechan, and Amefuriko have an appointment with the Elders? You've got 2 1/2 minutes to get there on time, starting now."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Village Council Chamber, 2 minutes, 29 seconds later**

"What's taking her so-" Koharu was cut off by the door slamming open and Tsunade walking in.

"Sorry I'm late. I had a little delay at the hospital."

"And why did you need us here, Tsunade? I suppose that it was important." Koharu said. Tsunade chuckled.

"Well, it just so happens that... You're right. It has recently been brought to my attention that a few people have been attempting to gain an audience with you concerning the past mistreatment of a certain Naruto Uzumaki. I have granted it to them. ANBU! Allow them entrance." One of the ANBU standing behind her went out the door, opening it and allowing a man with a black trench coat, black hair, and a long katana walk in the door. Following him was a young woman with white hair, an open black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath, and a plaid skirt. Finally, a woman with waist-length orange hair, a red trench coat, a light pink t-shirt, and a mid-thigh length blue skirt entered. The woman also held a weapon, but few of the Elders could identify it.

"ANBU! Why did you allow them to keep their weapons?! Confiscate them immediately!" Screeched a certain pink-haired civilian councilor.

"That's fine. We don't need our weapons to get our point across." Otoha said coldly, throwing his sword, still sheathed, to an ANBU. Amefuriko merely handed hers over.

"Now, what do you need to speak with us about?" Koharu asked as if she couldn't care less what they had to say.

"We want you to repay Uzumaki Naruto in full for the pain he suffered as a child."

"And why should we do anything for the demon?" Sashia Haruno screeched again.

"He is not the Kyuubi, you banshee! He is just as human as your Hokage!" Otoha roared. His voice dropped dangerously. "I WILL see justice served equally, even if some of you have to die before that happens."

"Is that a threat?" Another civilian councilor asked dangerously. Otoha snorted.

"Threats are merely empty words." He scoffed. "No... I don't make threats- I make promises." He declared.

"ANBU! Arrest them for threatening the village council!" Haruno ordered. Otoha, Yurine, and Amefuriko smirked.

"Let's see you arrest what you can't catch..." Amefuriko said, blinking out of sight when the ANBU attempted to seize her. Otoha and Yurine did the same. This continued for several minutes, Naruto's supporters barely containing their laughter at the 'Kyuubi Destruction' faction's open frustration.

"ANBU, stop this." Tsunade ordered. The ANBU promptly ceased their current actions and returned to their places at the edges of the room. "Otoha, Yurine, Amefuriko, you-"

"_Ame_furiko?! Tsunade, it's obvious that she's a spy! Why would you let her-"

"Haruno, shut your yap or lose your seat on the council." Haruno stopped and glared at Amefuriko.

"Tsunade, I don't believe you're aware that you don't have the power to do that." Koharu said smugly. Otoha spoke before Tsunade could respond.

"It doesn't matter. She's the first to go." He looked at Yurine, who nodded.

"Go, Karas. Do what you will. Just try to keep it clean."

"They'll die so fast, the blood won't even leave their wounds." Otoha said darkly. He pointed at Danzo. "Hey, Amefuriko, take out that one, will you? He feels like a snake- and a bad one, even by snakes' standards."

"In case you've forgotten, my Yurine isn't around. I've got very little power now."

"If there's one thing I could say you're good at, it'd be your creativity. You'll think of something." Otoha said, smirking as he held his hand out towards his sword. It lifted up off the ground, then spun as it flew through the air and into his hand. The moment Otoha's katana touched his hand, there was a flash of gold and Sashia fell to the ground, cuts all over her body. The rest of the Council looked at the spot that Otoha had been standing, only to gasp and stare. Standing before them stood a warrior in what looked to be bronze armor with gold edges. Instead of eyeholes in the helmet, there were two orbs, which glowed red. The helmet, leggings, boots, and gauntlets all looked to be connected. It terrified the Council.

"Showoff," Amefuriko muttered, breaking the Council out of their stupor. this time, they looked at Amefuriko, who stood over Danzo's corpse. The warrior chuckled.

"You know, Amefuriko, sometimes showing off is the way to get the job done. It's often better than- Dammit, would you stop that?!" He said when Amefuriko sat down and winked seductively at him. She laughed.

"You can't really, honestly say you want me to stop it altogether, can you?"

"Honestly? I don't know the answer to that one. Just try not to distract me in the middle of combat. Can you manage that?" Amefuriko smiled mischievously. "You know, I really don't like it when you smile at me like that."

"Well, I guess I can manage to keep it off the battlefield..." Otoha shook his head.

"What's the catch?" He asked, half expecting the answer. She merely smiled before answering.

"I'll tell you when we're done here." Otoha shook his head again.

"Well, let's get back to work, then." He pointed his sword at another civilian Councilor. "Repent, apologize, and right the atrocities that you have allowed and caused Naruto to go through. You have three seconds to comply." The councilor gave him a defiant glare.

"Never."

"Three."

"I refuse."

"Two."

"I said, no."

"One."

"I don't answer to-" He was cut off by Otoha's sword going through his eye, deep enough to damage his brain. He screamed until Otoha yanked his sword handle to the opposite side, slicing through his brain and killing him.

"Anyone else want to refuse? We've got plenty of time and little enough conscience left to kill everyone else in this room without batting an eye." Everyone believed it- everyone but Koharu.

"If you don't have enough of a conscience, why did you give him... why give _us_ a chance to repent?"

"I just prefer giving people a chance to comply with my demands, that's all. Now, will you repent... or die?" Koharu snorted.

"Neither. ANBU! Kill him for threatening and killing members of the Village Council. The two women with him are to be given the same punishment. Execute them now." The ANBU, all of whom supported Naruto, merely looked at Tsunade.

"Don't bother. If you couldn't catch them earlier, what makes you think you can kill them now?" Koharu paled when she remembered that. However, she learned her mistake when she saw her own headless body from her place on the floor.

_'I'm such a fool...'_ Was her final thought before she was enveloped by the cold embrace of death. The rest of the Council quickly surrendered.

**A/N:** So, chapter 8 is here! Random Sakura flamers, shut yer yaps and get lost. Everybody else, review to your heart's content. L8rs!


	9. Training Begins, and A New Ally

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer:** Foolishness! I don't own Naruto or Karas? My plans for world domination are ruined! Umm… You didn't hear that from me…

**Chapter Nine: Training Begins And a New Ally Arrives**

Otoha, Naruto, Hinata, Yurine, and Amefuriko stood together in the middle of one of the training grounds.

"So Naruto, what do you know about mobile combat?" Otoha asked. Naruto and Hinata looked at him blankly, making Otoha, Yurine, and Amefuriko sigh and shake their heads. "Naruto, how did you survive this long?" Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

"Umm… probably a bit of luck here and there, Kyuubi helped out a bit… other than that, I'm really not sure…" Naruto replied. Hinata came and hugged him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. Otoha sighed again.

"Well, let's fix that first. I don't want you to take an additional crash course in mobile combat." Seeing Naruto and Hinata's confused looks, Otoha elaborated. "In case you're wondering, what I call mobile combat is fighting while moving through a forest, or a city, or whatever- anywhere that there are vertical surfaces that you can jump off of. I got a crash course in mobile combat at the worst possible time, and I want you to be prepared for something like that. Now, I want you to start jumping through the trees around this clearing so that we can begin. Begin… NOW!" Naruto vanished into the trees, and Otoha looked at Yurine. "Think you can stretch our power a bit?"

"What do you mean?" Yurine asked.

"Turn me and Amefuriko into Karas. Is that possible?" Otoha said. Yurine thought for a moment.

"I may be able to, but…" Yurine trailed off.

"But what? What's wrong?" Amefuriko asked.

"Your powers will be lessened. You'll only be able to slow time, not stop it, unless you both invoke that power together and your physical strength will be at human levels. That's the most I can manage. Everything else should be at their normal levels, but your time-control abilities and strength will be lessened." Yurine explained. Otoha and Amefuriko looked at each other and nodded.

"Anything you can do is acceptable- do what you can, don't worry about anything else for now." Otoha said, putting a hand on Yurine's shoulder. "Amefuriko, let's go. Let's torture Naruto for a little bit." Amefuriko smiled evilly.

"This'll be fun!"

* * *

Naruto was hopping through the trees as Otoha had instructed, when a bronze-armored warrior suddenly appeared in front of him, swinging a katana at him. Naruto backflipped, landing on a branch below the bronze-clad warrior, only to see a female warrior wearing light-red armor slashing at him with a javelin. He darted around them, jumping through the trees and dodging them as they pursued him.

_'What the hell? Summons?'_ Naruto thought, side flipping to evade a spear thrust. "Bro! Otoha!" Naruto called. "What the hell is this?" He screamed as the bronze warrior slashed at him again.

"This is your training. We're not going to stop until you can strike one of us with a thrown weapon without stopping to take aim." The bronze warrior replied.

"I was talking to Otoha!" Naruto yelled back. The red-clad warrior appeared in front of him, swinging at him as she laughed. _'Wait… that sounds like…'_ He thought.

"No way… Amefuriko?" He heard a laugh from the red warrior as a reply. "Then that means… Otoha, what kind of Jutsu is that? It's awesome! Can you- WAAH!" Naruto screamed and swung underneath a branch mid- question as Otoha swung his katana at him again.

"It's not a jutsu. It cannot be taught." Otoha replied.

"So, it's a kekkei genkai?" Naruto asked. Otoha shook his head as he leaped through the trees, lashing out at Naruto repeatedly as they jumped alongside each other, watching with satisfaction as Naruto let his instincts take over as he blocked and countered Otoha's attacks with a pair of kunai.

"It's a blessing, a curse, a privilege, and a punishment." Otoha said.

"I don't follow."

"It's a blessing because, as a Karas, I now have the power to protect those I care about. It's a privilege because I've temporarily escaped death. It's a curse because you have to keep your Yurine alive because, not only is she the only one who can begin to understand us, but with her gone, I lose my power and vanish- and you have to leave your body behind."

"That's cool, but how is it a punishment?" Naruto asked, parrying and countering another set of attacks from Otoha. Otoha sighed.

"Most of us are chosen because we know what true suffering is- and we're not nearly as adept at dealing with it as you are." Otoha turned his head towards Naruto. "Most Karas are people who have tried to commit suicide and pass on earlier than we were supposed to. I was one of the lucky ones. I found someone who didn't care that I couldn't feel pain or fear. He genuinely cared for me; he was a true friend. My becoming a Karas was punishment for all of the lives I took. My hands, at the age of fifteen, were stained with more blood than Kakashi's are now." Naruto nearly lost his footing when Otoha said this. "Reiji and I hatched a plan to escape and go to another country. However, we were caught on the way out of one of the Yakuza's safehouses, and I was shot three times. I probably would've preferred dying at the time, because even though I was in the hospital… Reiji was being beaten daily during my first week as a Karas. When I found him, he was half- dead. He could hardly think straight, and as I carried him out of the bar where they were holding him, my father… my brother… Dammit, I don't want to call him either, but he was both- genetically, at least." Before Otoha could continue, Naruto stopped him.

"Wait, wait, waaaaaait a minute! He was your father _and_ your brother? How does that work?" Naruto demanded.

"He and I were both born from the same woman, but he was conceived between her and his father; I was conceived between him and her." Otoha said, doing his best to hide his disgust with his father/brother as Naruto stared, then gagged. "But as I was trying to get Reiji to a place where he could rest and recover, my Father shot him. Reiji was dead before he hit the ground, and in my rage, I killed my own family. I killed my own father." Otoha bowed his head. "My punishment was not being able to save my best friend. But….." Otoha raised his head as his eyes flashed red. "I won't let that happen again. I'm going to train you into the ground, pull you out, and then train you into the ground again. You'll be able to defend yourself, and I won't have to lose another of my friends." Naruto, Yurine, and Amefuriko smiled.

"Yosh! Let's get serious then, Bro! I wanna get strong enough to stand against anybody!" Naruto said, determination blazing in his eyes. Otoha smiled behind his helmet.

"Of course."

* * *

Several hours later, Naruto sat in a tree above Otoha, and Yurine, Amefuriko, and Hinata sat around a tree just out of earshot.

"So, Naruto." Otoha started. Naruto grunted, still panting- they had stopped mere moments before.

"What's up?"

"How….. How did you cope with the pain of being alone, and being hated for so long?" Otoha asked quietly. Naruto lowered his head.

"At first… I didn't. I have a few scars from where I stabbed and cut myself. I can't tell you how many times I tried to commit suicide. I eventually stopped trying, and when the villagers tried to kill me, I put on a show, acted the way that riled them up the most. I figured they would do it." Otoha bowed his head, as well.

_'Naruto…'_

"I was pissed for awhile at the Old Man for not letting me die. It's my life, I said. If I want to die, let me, I demanded. Every time he saved me, I would scream and yell at him, and every time I would break down and start crying. But eventually, I started to meet people who weren't cold or cruel to me, and some even went out of their way to be kind to me. They endured their friends turning against them, they let everyone else persecute and mistreat them for the sake of a child whose only crime was living- and that child didn't even know why this was such a horrible crime, and he didn't even care. He wanted it to end; all the pain, sadness, the cold stares, the hatred, the… the loneliness." Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes, hearing Hinata's sad sniffle nearby. He wanted to stop, to not tell the rest of the story- Hinata would be better off not knowing all this, but Otoha had asked him a question, and he'd answer it- no matter how much it hurt.

"When I finally entered the Ninja Academy, I met one girl who didn't care what everyone else thought of me. In fact, before I had even said a single word after entering the building, she just walked up and hugged me, telling me not to be so sad anymore. It was the single kindest thing anyone my age had ever said or done in my life up to that point. I damn near cried, and that was when I decided that I would protect this Hinata girl, no matter what happened to me in the process. We rarely interacted after that, but I still kept a close eye on her as she walked home every day. My spirits rose dramatically after that day, and I found myself with such a surplus of energy that I needed an outlet. So I became Naruto Uzumaki, Prankster-King of Konoha." Naruto smiled.

"I realized that when I was really peeved, or really sad, I could just make my pranks more intense. That was how I coped until I graduated." Otoha nodded.

"And after you graduated?" He asked. Naruto looked down at him.

"Well, I'd take a mission that made me push myself. Only Iruka-sensei and the Old man knew about it. According to them, I was about Kakashi's level in everything except Genjutsu by the time I went on my first C- rank mission, but they told me to keep it a secret for as long as possible. I still had enemies among the shinobi, and if word got out that Konoha's Jinchuuriki was getting powerful, another war would start, and hundreds of lives, possibly thousands, would be lost unnecessarily." Naruto finished.

"I see." Otoha said. "I would just train and do the jobs my Father gave me. I wouldn't allow myself time to think. After I met you in your previous life as Reiji, I'd split my time between you, my training, and my jobs." Otoha looked over at Amefuriko, Hinata, and Yurine and allowed himself a small smile. "My life was a lot less painful when I met them. I met Yurine first- she said that my soul had called out to her, and that she merely responded to that call. Even then, I suspected that there was another reason for her saving me from the abyss, but I eventually stopped caring. I started feeling a kind of… emotional longing when I wasn't around her after a few years. It was the same story with Amefuriko, even though we met under completely different circumstances." Otoha chuckled. "I'll tell you the rest later. Let's get back to training." Otoha stood. "Let's go into the village- we need to get you a weapon."

* * *

'_Gotta hurry… Can't get caught…'_

Several shinobi wearing Kumo headbands chased after a girl about Naruto's age as she fled through the thick forests of Hi no Kuni, holding a shoulder wound caused by a kunai.

The girl was in terrible shape. Aside from the kunai wound in her shoulder, she had several scratches on her torso, and a few on her legs. She also had several cuts and scratches marring her beautiful face, and blood flowed from them, drenching her long, blonde hair, and dripping onto her clothes and into the forest below her. She eventually slipped, losing her footing and crying out as she fell several dozen feet through the branches.

_**"Kitten!"**_ A concerned voice cried out in her mind.

_'No! They'll take me back to him! I can't go back!'_ The girl thought, her eyes wide with fear.

_**"Kitten, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is nearby! I'll call to them and see if they can help!"**_ The voice in the girl's mind said.

_'Please… Tell them to hurry! I don't want to go back to… him! Kyuu- Jinchuuriki, HELP ME!'_

Naruto and Otoha were just leaving a weapon shop in Konoha when Naruto suddenly stiffened and froze, then cried out.

"Nibi is close- I gotta help her!" Was all he said before vanishing, leaving behind a very confused Otoha.

"….. What the Hell?"

The three Kumo shinobi slowly advanced on the fallen Kunoichi as she tried desperately to crawl to safety.

"And just where do you think you're going, cat bitch?" One of the men sneered, stepping on her forearm as she extended it. A loud snap sounded through the forest, followed immediately by the girl's screams.

"Hey, let's hurry up and get her back to the village. Raikage-sama's gonna be pissed at us for taking so long." At the mention of the Raikage, the girl's eyes became even more terrified than before, and she started trying to drag herself away with her other hand, but the ninja who had spoken first saw her trying to get away and pinned her to the ground with his foot.

"C'mon, man! Didn't he say that he didn't care what state she was in when we brought her back? Look at the bitch. Even though she's the hottest Kunoichi in the village and she's got that succubus in her, she's still a virgin! I wouldn't mind feeling how it is inside her, would you?" The man said, a sick grin on his face behind his mask, which the other three soon mirrored.

_'No…..'_ The girl thought, squeezing her eyes shut as the men pulled her into a kneeling position and the leader moved to unzip his pants. _'Not like this….. I wanted it to be special, not…..'_ Her thoughts were cut off by the men gasping and dropping her to the ground before she heard a voice that she never thought she'd hear.

"That'll be quite enough of that in the territory of my Village, boys." The girl's eyes shot open and she looked towards the source of the voice. What she saw stunned her into silence as it had her pursuers.

The man before them stood at six and a half feet tall, wearing a long white coat that nearly reached his ankles. His hair was a bright yellow, almost golden color, and was wild as a tropical storm. He wore a Jounin vest from Konoha, dark green ANBU pants, and matching sandals. The man glared at the three men from Kumo through cold sapphire eyes.

"Y-Y-Yondaime… Sama…" The girl said, her strength failing her as her head dropped back to the ground. The Yondaime walked over and knelt beside her.

"You're gonna be okay." He said. "Don't worry." The Yondaime smiled gently at her, filling her with a sense of safety. "Just close your eyes and rest." He stood and looked at the four men. "What is your business with this girl?"

"She's a shinobi of Kumo, Lord Yondaime. She left the Village without permission, and we were sent to retrieve her." The Kumo nins' leader said.

"Somehow I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling me. Why send the Kumo Lightning Strike after her and not just a few normal Jounin?" The blonde man asked.

"She's the Jinchuuriki to the Nibi no Nekomata, sir. She's highly dangerous and a vicious beast. If she isn't kept-" The man was interrupted by the Yondaime putting up his hand and glaring at him.

"Speak no further!" Yondaime snapped. The Kumo shinobi shut up immediately. "Come with me." He said, gently picking up the girl. "You're going to speak to the Fifth. And by the way….." The blonde turned to glare at them. "I'm not the Fourth, I just look like him." The blonde smiled, and the five Kumo ninja then noticed his whisker marks and fangs. "You're gonna be so busy trying to calm Godaime-sama down, you won't be able to think of anything else." Naruto's smile grew wicked. "And I'm going to enjoy the whole show."

**A/N:** And….. I think I'll stop right there. You've been waiting forever, it seems, which is unfair, and I apologize. I hope that this chapter doesn't contain any degradation in my ability to please the audience.

I truly apologize for the insane delay, and hope that you can forgive me- it's been really crazy around here.


	10. Training With Otoha Begins

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Deaths Aprentis:** Oh, for the love of GOD! How many times am I gonna have to do this?

**Naruto:** Just get it over with, man. The faster the better, right?

**Otoha: **He's got a point.

**Me: **Dammit, I won't do it again!

**Naruto:** Just say it already! I wanna kick more ass soon.

**Me:** Hey! This is MY story, dammit! I tell YOU what to do!

**Otoha:** GAH! Fine, I'LL do it since you're a wuss!

**Me:** I'm perfectly capable of saying that neither you nor Naruto belong to me, thank you… very….. (Eye twitch)

**Otoha & Naruto: **(smirkingsmugly) Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

**Me:** …You guys suck.

**Naruto:** Otoha, you're a genius.

**Me:** I hate you! (Pin both to the wall with swords)

**Naruto: **OH GOD! WHAT THE FUCK, MAN! OH GOD, IT HURTS, PULL IT OUT PULL IT OUT PULL IT OUT! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PULL IT OUT!

**Otoha: **Where the hell did this thing come from?

**Me:** You guys can just hang there for this chapter. Assholes.

**Naruto:** GET THIS FUCKING THING OUT OF MY GUT! PLEASE GET IT OUT!

**Chapter 10: Merciless Hokage**

"Are you sure it's alright for me to-" The blonde haired girl started to ask for the umpteenth time since she'd been admitted to the hospital.

"How many times do I have to say it? It's fine! Just don't tell anyone that you're a Jinchuuriki and you'll be treated just like any other poor soul who's come for refuge from the cruelties of another Village." Naruto replied again. The girl looked around nervously.

"Are you… are you sure?"

"Just relax and rest. The Fifth has absolutely nothing against Jinchuuriki, trust me. The Villagers themselves, well… that's another story."

"How can you be so sure about the Fifth?" The girl insisted. Naruto sighed in exasperation and amusement, raising his shirt with a grin as he channeled chakra to his stomach and making his seal visible, much to the girl's surprise. "You're one too?"

"Yep. And she knows, too. She's like my adoptive grandmother. Which reminds me, I've gotta go see how those blockheads are doing. You let the nurse know if you need something, alright? Hey, Ino!" Ino walked in moments after he called her name.

"Naruto…" Ino said, struggling to not scream at him. "This… is… a hospital. You do realize that, right?"

"Yeah, sorry. But listen, I need a favor. Could you take care of… Uh, what's your name again?" Yugito and Ino looked at each other, Yugito with a look that said, _'Is he for real?'_ and Ino with an apologetic smile.

"It's… Yugito. Yugito Nii." Naruto smirked. "What?"

"Nii Yugito, huh? It fits. Could you keep her comfortable, Ino?" Ino waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah. Get to wherever it is you need to be, Naruto, and step on it. If I know who you're going to see, she'll be real pissed if you're late." Naruto nodded in gratitude as he jumped out the window. "AND USE THE FUCKING DOOR NEXT TIME!" Ino shouted out the window after him. "Ah, what's the use? He never listens to anyone. My name is Ino Yamanaka, and it's my pleasure to be of assistance to you during your stay in Konoha Central Hospital." Ino said, turning to Yugito with a smile and a bow.

Naruto peeked through Tsunade's door, then immediately snapped his head back out as her chair smashed into the wall less than half a second afterwards.

"_Don't you _FUCKING_ start that talk with me!"_ Tsunade screamed. Naruto quietly slipped into the vents, then crept through them to the vent above the office. "Naruto, if you want to watch then fucking get in here, stay quiet, and stay the fuck out of my way!" Tsunade snapped, looking straight at the vent he was sitting over. A moment later, Naruto appeared leaning against the window, arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"So how long this time, Shizune?" Naruto asked Tsunade's first apprentice, who was currently cowering behind a potted plant in terror as Tsunade returned to ranting at the four Kumo ninja.

"They didn't even finish getting through the door…" she whimpered. Naruto chuckled as silently as he could.

"We'd better get the body bags ready…" Naruto smirked even more, making Shizune stare at him in wonder.

_'How is he not terrified? Tsunade-sama will hit him hard enough to shatter half the bones in- wait, that's why he's not worried. DUH!'_ Shizune thought, remembering that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki. _'Something like broken bones will heal near instantaneously. He's got absolutely nothing to fear.'_ Meanwhile, Tsunade was still raging at the four Kumo shinobi.

"… It's bad enough that you were doing this in Konoha territory, but going so far as to RAPE this girl, simply because her body houses a Bijuu? I would be well within my rights as Hokage to kill you myself!" One of the Kumo shinobi, apparently the leader, started to open his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. "If you've got something to say, say it before I change my mind!"

"Er, I… don't think you are… permitted by law… to execute the shinobi of another… Village….." the man shrank under her gaze as she pulled an extremely thick book seemingly out of nowhere and flipped through it until she hit a certain page.

"Territorial Law, Article 15; Sub-Section 8; Clause 22; Paragraph 19: _"The Lord, Lady and/or Village Leader may, should they so will, have any individual- Shinobi or other warrior, or civilian criminal- Prosecuted to the full extent of the Law should this Individual be caught committing any crime in the Territory of the Lord, Lady and/or Village Leader's Village, regardless of said individual's native Village.'_ I think that about sums up how you're wrong on that point. Try learning about the laws you think you're breaking before you go off spouting that bullshit." Tsunade snapped. The Kumo Nin looked at each other in terror.

An hour later, Naruto had to create a chakra-infused glass wall to prevent her from killing the poor saps.

_"Naruto, what the _FUCK!_ Let me kill the assholes!"_ Tsunade screamed at him.

"Tsunade, killing them is too easy. You'll still be pissed, and you may not like to admit it, but Shizune and I usually take the brunt of your excess anger. In fact, Jiraiya sensei left mainly because your anger terrifies him." The Kumo men looked at him, hope starting to glimmer in their eyes. "Why don't we torture them for awhile?" The Kumo nin immediately started searching for an exit, and when they found none, they dropped to their knees and started begging for mercy. Naruto simply laughed.

"Sorry, guys, but it was out of my hands the third time you said the wrong thing. You may as well pray that the circle of Hell that you wind up in is extremely gentle, 'cuz if I know our Lady Hokage, you guys are gonna wind up with two mouths, two assholes, and an honest-to Kami pussy. The bad news is….."

_'Bad news? What could be worse than that?'_ the Kumos thought.

"That's just her warm-up exercises." Naruto cackled madly as he hopped out the window, on his way to rejoin Otoha, Yurine, Hinata, and Amefuriko, and the Kumo nin started to whimper.

Hinata looked towards the Hokage tower and took a stance that Amefuriko and Yurine both recognized. In fact, they themselves had taken that stance countless times in the past five decades when they tried to surprise glomp Otoha. Needless to say, he was never caught.

However, when Naruto reappeared, nothing could prepare him for the sight that met him when he stopped- all he saw was Hinata's face as she tackled him to the ground and kissed him simultaneously. Two of the other three beings in the clearing laughed uncontrollably for awhile, and the remaining spirit laughed aloud which, knowing him, was rare.

"Wow, Tenshi-chan! That was surprising." Naruto said, laughing as he helped Hinata to her feet.

"So Naruto-kun, who's Nibi?" said girl asked sweetly, though Naruto could hear the danger tone in her voice and see the hidden steel in her innocent expression.

"Well, I don't really know- I just met the girl today. She said her name was Yugito, and she seems nice enough. Good thing I showed up when I did, or she would've been raped. The four in question are….. _busy_ with Granny Tsunade at the moment, but I highly doubt that anyone but Grandma is enjoying it."

"So what exactly is she doing to them?" Hinata asked. She had a sinking feeling that she probably wouldn't like the answer when Naruto shuddered, then he spoke.

"They're each gonna have two assholes, two mouths, and a pussy when she finishes…" Otoha looked at him with a raised eyebrow when he trailed off. "…And that's just when she finishes warming up. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up completely unrecognizable when she gets halfway done with them. Poor saps." Hinata and Yurine looked at Naruto with a mixture of disbelief and horror. "Hey, you would've killed them if they'd tried to rape you, wouldn't you? But if you had, they'd be getting off easy. I don't know about you, but I'd make sure they suffered. Bro, let's get back to work."

And back to work they went, until a few hours later, when Neji arrived to see Naruto fighting against Otoha, each of them using a katana, blades flashing as they struck so fast that Neji nearly had to activate his Byakugan to keep up.

"What's up, Neji?" Naruto asked.

Sidestep.

Stab.

Block.

Counter.

"Er, your fight against Kiba…"

Parry.

"It's going to be a week from today."

Horizontal slash.

Block.

Stab, vertical slash, parry, stabstabslashduckblockslash-

THWOCK!

Every non-combatant winced as Otoha whacked Naruto on the side of the head with his sheath.

"FUCKING PRICK!" Naruto screamed, holding his head as he tried to defend himself against the viciousness of Otoha's assault with only his sword hand. "That's great, Neji, I got it. A week from today! See ya then!"

WHACK!

"OW, SONUVA BITCH!"

"Naruto's gonna have one hell of a headache tomorrow morning," Neji muttered to Hinata.

Hinata just giggled.

**A/N:** WOOT! CHAPTER TEN IS DONE! Naruto's fight with Kiba next chapter, and Yugito's gonna try to put the moves on Big N! How will this sit with Hinata? Read my next chapter to find out! BTW...

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! Just don't leave me that bullshit hate mail. Is that too much to ask? It better not be, I luckily didn't have to deal with that last chapter…..


	11. The Big Fight

**Mysterious Familiars**

**Disclaimer:** Okay, you should know by now that I don't own anything that I'm writing about.

**A/N:** I gotta say, people, What's with so many people reading, but not reviewing? I mean, to Gravity the Wizard, Dragon Man 180, and anyone else who's dropped a review for me, thanks a lot, but everybody else... C'mon, people, it doesn't take more than a minute to click that little button and hit a few keys.

I mean, seriously, is it that hard to just say, "Hey, this chapter had great dialogue!" or, "The action in this chapter was cool!"?

Hell, I'll even take a "You really need to work on your pacing and grammar/spelling."!

Anything, people! My Muse needs Reviews or else this story doesn't get the attention it deserves! (And that goes for my other stories, as well...) Anyhoo, I finally got this chapter done and ready to go, so... read and enjoy. And DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! XD

**Chapter 11: The Big Fight**

The next week passed relatively uneventfully for Naruto and co.

Otoha would train Naruto, while Amefuriko would alternate between helping them in their training, and training with Hinata and Yurine.

During this time, Kiba was rarely seen outside the Inuzuka clan compound, as his mother was training him so hard he couldn't even take D-rank missions.

At the end of the week, though, one would have to wonder if his training made even the slightest difference against Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's #1 Unpredictable Ninja.

**Chuunin Exam Stadium**

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Otoha asked a nervous Naruto.

"No. No, I'm not okay. I'm about to fight one of my closest friends because he couldn't get over the fact that my girlfriend doesn't love him back, he's more than likely going to try to kill me, and I can't get through to him no matter how hard I try. I feel like I'm gonna pass out, my nerves are so shot." Naruto replied, pacing nervously.

"Take a deep breath. Steady yourself. Clear your mind, silence your thoughts. Focus only on the battle ahead, and not who you are fighting." As Otoha spoke, Naruto did what he was told, and was soon relaxed again.

"Thanks, bro. I… I feel better now." Naruto said with a grateful glance at Otoha, before he glanced at the clock. "I'd better get out there. Wish me luck." Otoha watched as Naruto turned and walked out to the arena.

"Good luck… Otouto…."

**Arena Stands**

Many people were present, the vast majority there hoping that the Uzumaki boy put the Inuzuka mutt in his place.

"Where the hell is Naruto? He should've been here by now! I'm gonna kill him if he doesn't show up!" Ino raged.

"Ino, one of the conditions of the fight was that if they didn't show up, then the person who didn't show would be killed." Shino said, making Ino stare at him in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" When Shino shook his head, Ino stared at him in shock. "Naruto had better show up. Whose idea was that?"

"From what I can gather, Kiba suggested it." Shino replied, when there was suddenly a loud explosion in the arena.

"Am I late?"

* * *

"So, you decided to show up. I was beginning to think that the mighty-" Kiba started, only to be interrupted by Naruto.

"If you finish that, even I won't be able to stop the ANBU from killing you where you stand. Please don't." Kiba frowned.

"Fine. Let's begin, shall we?" Kiba said, looking to the proctor.

"The match between Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba for the hand of Hyuuga Hinata begins… NOW!" he said before leaping away. Naruto simply stood there.

"Please don't do this, Kiba. I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad, monster. I sure as hell wanna kill _you_!" Kiba darted forward, swiping at Naruto with his clawed nails, which Naruto simply dodged. "Fight me!"

"No, Kiba. You're not in your right mind. Let's stop this, and you can cool off, and we'll talk about this." Naruto replied.

"NO! You won't fool me, Demon! I'll kill you!" Kiba said. "The Naruto I knew is gone! You've taken over his body now, and if killing his body will free his soul, then I'll do it! And then Hinata will be mine!" Naruto frowned at this.

"Kiba, by killing me, you won't set anyone free, and Hinata most certainly won't want you. Do you know what _will_ happen?

"You'll realize, too late, that you've killed a friend. You'll fall out of favor with your clan and the Hokage. The villagers will despise you as most of them used to hate me. And Hinata will inescapably, irrevocably hate you for the rest of time. Do you really want to endure that for a moment of triumph? Will you be able to bear that pain, knowing that everyone you know and love hates you?" Naruto said, hoping to make Kiba start thinking straight, but only making him fight more ferociously.

"You can't trick me as you have the rest of the village! Once you're dead and Naruto is free, they'll realize that I was the one who freed them! I'll be a hero for finishing you off!" Kiba said, causing Naruto to sigh.

"I see. So there's no reasoning with you, then… So be it. Kiba… I'm sorry." Naruto said, taking his battle stance, and launching himself into battle with Kiba. Naruto dodged a horizontal claw swipe, then sidestepping an overhead slash, before countering with a powerful punch to Kiba's gut, driving the air from his lungs. Naruto then followed with a brutal combination of punches that left the young Inuzuka laying battered on the ground.

Kiba quickly rose back up to his feet, and lunged at Naruto again. Kiba slashed horizontally at Naruto, who simply dodged, and then quickly followed up with an uppercut slash. Naruto dodged both strikes, and countered with two of his own. Kiba shook his head to clear it, then went through a series of handsigns.

"Shikyaku no Jutsu!" Kiba growled out as his appearance grew more feral and he dropped to all fours. Kiba charged.

"Tsuuga!" Naruto waited till the very last moment, then slammed his fist into the spinning Inuzuka, stopping his forward momentum altogether and instead flinging him into a wall on the other side of the arena. Naruto watched Kiba stagger back to his feet.

"Kiba, stop."

"NEVER!" Kiba roared as he pounced once more, claws extended, before Naruto simply raised his hand.

"Daitoppa."

A massive blast of wind blasted the Inuzuka. The winds were so forceful that the spectators in the audience nearly fell out of their seats, and Kiba slammed into the wall with a sickening crunch, before slumping to the ground and stayed there.

"I'm sorry, Kiba. I tried to make you see sense… but you couldn't. Farewell… my foolish friend…" Naruto said, turning around to walk away.

What he didn't notice in his guilty mind was that Kiba wasn't truly beaten. Kiba quickly, silently stood, curling his clawed fingers, and launched himself at Naruto, who realized that he was there and turned around, with just enough time to-

* * *

The people in the stands gasped as blood flew. Their eyes widened as blood spilled out of the boy's body, staining the ground a deep crimson as the boy looked down at the hand that was plunged into his chest, gripping his heart, which had been cut from the blood vessels that carried the life-giving fluid to the rest of the boy's body. The boy looked to the stands, where the girl he loved sat, eyes wide in shock and horror.

"I'm sorry... Hinata-chan..." he whispered, eyes glazing over in death as the other pulled his hand from his chest and looked down at the corpse that had been his friend.

"Hinata is mine."

* * *

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Medics poured out onto the field, shoving Kiba roughly out of the way.

"NARUTO, YOU PROMISED ME YOU'D WIN!" Hinata screamed at the blonde's corpse as the medics worked to save him, her eyes filling with tears and her hands clenched around the railing so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"YOU PROMISED WE'D BE TOGETHER!" She continued to scream, even as the medics realized what the Inuzuka had done.

"YOU PROMISED ME FOREVER, NARUTO!" Hinata's sorrow could be heard across the entire village as she screamed, bringing tears to the eyes of those who didn't even know the blonde. Her voice cracked as she tried to scream at him one last time.

_"Naruto, you lied to me..."_ Hinata's screams turned to sobs, and she turned and buried her face in her father's robes, while even said man was shedding tears of sorrow of his own as he held his daughter.

_'Naruto... Minato... Hinata... What have I done...?'_

_

* * *

_Meanwhile, Otoha, Yurine, Amefuriko, and the remainder of the Konoha 10 stared at the corpse of the blonde knucklehead.

"No... No way... This is some kind of joke... Right, guys...?" Tenten said, stunned. "I mean, Naruto is... Naruto! He can't die! ...Right...?" she said, starting to laugh, making everyone else look at her like she was crazy.

"Hey, Naruto! Come on out! That's a pretty cool trick, how you got your clones to be able to bleed like that! You even had the medics fooled!" Tenten called, tears running down her cheeks as she laughed. "That's a good one. I guess you weren't called the Prankster-King of Konoha for nothing, huh?" she said, as her laughter slowly devolved into hiccuping and sobbing. "Naruto, wake up... it's not funny anymore..." she whispered, as everyone else simply stared numbly at Naruto, not paying any attention to anything around them, not even noticing that Hinata was screaming.

Nobody in the village noticed the rainclouds gathering and the moon moving unnaturally to cover the sun as Uzumaki Naruto died.

* * *

**Naruto's Mind**

"I'm sorry, Sonja."

Sonja looked at him in surprise. "Why are you apologizing, Naruto? He caught you by surprise, you still considered him a friend... A misguided friend, but still a friend nonetheless..."

"But that's why I'm apologizing." Naruto said. "When I die, you disappear from existence altogether, right? I'm dying because of a stupid mistake on my part, and you're about to disappear altogether." Naruto got on his hands and knees and bowed. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry that you can't go back home because of me..." Naruto jumped up and looked around, as did Sonja, when they heard insane laughter ring through the chamber.

_"So, you're really this weak?"_ the voice said, filled with malice, and backed by an eternity of suffering and insanity. _"I can't wait to steal your soul..."_

Naruto stood, eyes hardening, as he started to move out of the chamber.

"Naruto,where are you-" Sonja started.

"I'm going to find whoever or whatever that was, and put them in their place. This is my mind, and I won't be insulted here." Naruto said. Flashing a smile back at Sonja, Naruto ventured out into the corridors of his mind.

* * *

Awhile later, Naruto stumbled upon a mass of black that swirled and folded in on itself, expanding and shrinking, as it convulsed and radiated a sense of hopelessness and despair.

"What are you and why are you in my mind?" Naruto demanded. A laugh sounded from the black mass.

_"I am the Darkness, and you... are my PUPPET!"_ the mass screamed at him, shooting out and enveloping him, and when it melted away and vanished, Naruto stood, unhurt, and looked at his hands, his eyes glowing a sinister yellow, chuckling. _"This body... will be the best I have had in a long time..."_

**Real world**

The moon quickly moved to eclipse the sun completely, casting an all-consuming darkness over the stadium.

"Somebody get the lights on!" Tsunade quickly called out. This was not to be, though, as they heard the sound of shattering glass, and everyone saw sparks coming from where the floodlights were located. Everyone looked around, shocked, as Tsunade barked out orders for someone to quickly get the arena lit up.

And then it started.

Crazed laughter rose up from inside the arena, raspy and the kind of sound that would grate on the nerves.

The laughter was far from the kind that any human was capable of; it spoke of an ageless eternity of suffering, of a lonely insanity... of darkness...

"What... What is this...?" Kiba said, scared out of his mind. "W-What's going on?"

Up in the stands, Hiashi activated his Byakugan, searching the field, and gasped in shock. The Hyuuga around him looked toward him in surprise and activated their Byakugan as well, all staring in surprise or crying out in shock as they saw what had become of Naruto.

It was terrifying.

His chakra system was filled with a black, sinister chakra, making him nearly invisible to the Byakugan. From his back sprouted four black tendrils, and from his shoulder blades came two snakelike creatures... that appeared to be composed of pure darkness. On top of all of that, when Naruto opened his eyes, they seemed to glow with a pale, sickly yellow light, as did the eyes of the serpents sprouting from his back. All of this combined painted a picture of terror, a dark monster that would kill anyone without hesitation...

And then he moved.

Two of the tendrils on his back stiffened, shooting forward to impale Kiba through the shoulders, lifting him up and yanking him to Naruto, holding him suspended and paralyzed from pain and terror as Naruto seemed to inspect him.

_"This is it?"_ Naruto said, in a grating, sinister voice. _"_This_ is what killed my Host? How pathetic. It's time for you to die, mutt."_ Naruto said, both of the serpents rearing back, and then shooting towards Kiba, only to freeze an inch from his face. Naruto grabbed his head, grunting in pain as he struggled for control. His eyes eventually returned to normal, and he looked at Kiba, panting.

"K-Kiba?" he said tiredly. "Kiba... are you dead, too?"

Kiba simply shook his head, making Naruto smile.

"We're both... still alive?" Kiba nodded. "Good... I'm glad..." Naruto dropped to his knees, the tendrils holding Kiba up retracting into his back, depositing Kiba on the ground. "Kiba... I'm sorry..." Naruto said, just loud enough for Kiba to hear him.

"For... For what...?" Kiba asked, panting in pain. Naruto smiled sadly.

"For this..." Naruto punched Kiba, driving his head into the ground and knocking him out.

* * *

Moments after Naruto walked out of the arena, he found himself on the ground with Hinata on top of him, her arms around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder, tears soaking his jacket.

"N-N-Naruto! D-Don't ever do th-that again!" Hinata sobbed. "P-p-please! D-don't scare me l-like that a-again!" Naruto slowly sat up, wrapping his arms around Hinata, who continued sobbing and hiccuping into his shoulder as he held her. "I th-thought you w-were d-d-dead..." she whimpered.

"Shh... It's okay... I'm here now... It's all gonna be okay..." Naruto said, holding her close. Hiashi watched them for a few moments, then cleared his throat, causing Naruto to shoot him a glare that nearly made him shit himself and he nodded, slowly backing away.

_'There he goes... Using _"The Look"_ just like the Yondaime... I really need to look into that... I think I'll go check up on Hanabi...'_ Hiashi vanished, leaving Naruto to comfort Hinata. What he didn't know, however, was that the two had planned it- Hinata had been calmed the moment she had been wrapped in his arms.

"Well?" she whispered. "Did he?" Naruto chuckled.

"I think it would've worked better had I shot him a Kyuubi enhanced _'Evil Eye'_... He probably _would've_ shit himself." he replied, making Hinata giggle.

"Aww... He didn't?"

"Sadly no... He came pretty damn close though... And damn! Does he ever wash his ass? I could smell that shit from here!" Hinata laughed at that, and they both rose to their feet. "Hinata, I'm sorry for scaring you. I honestly didn't see that coming until the last second. If you want, I could make it up to you by buying you dinner?" Naruto said. Hinata narrowed her eyes playfully.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Are you asking me on a date?" she said. Naruto had a look on his face that just screamed that he was amused and struggling to hold in his laughter.

"Why yes, yes I am, Hyuuga Hinata. Meet me at, oh, say... 7:30 by the oak in the park?" he said with an amused smirk. Hinata giggled again.

"Alright, 7:30, oak in the park. You'd better be on time, Naruto-kun."

"Why Hinata-hime, if I didn't know any better, I would think that you assumed that Kakashi-sensei was rubbing off on me!" Naruto said in a mock-hurt tone.

"Maybe I am..." Hinata said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Naruto chuckled before doing something Hinata didn't expect- he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder, with a firm hand on her rear. "Eep! N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked, laughing. Naruto just grinned cheekily.

"What? I still gotta let everyone else know that I'm okay, don't I? And besides..." Naruto squeezed Hinata's ass, getting a squeak in return. "I rather like carrying you this way, now that I think on it..." Hinata turned a brilliant shade of red at this comment, and she smiled mischievously as he leaped off towards everyone else.

_'So, he wants to play _that_ game, does he?'_ Hinata thought, discreetly reaching around Naruto's waist towards his crotch.

When she reached it, she immediately grabbed him, causing him to stumble as he landed in front of their friends, who all looked at him strangely, then laughed when they saw where Hinata's hand was located. Naruto started to sweat.

"Hinata-chan..." he whimpered, making Hinata laugh as she released him, allowing him to suddenly swing her around into his arms, earning another squeak of surprise and a giggle before he locked his lips onto hers, then set her down and turned to the others.

"Sorry for the scare, guys. I didn't intend on that." Naruto flinched when Tenten threw a barrage of kunai at him.

"You jackass! Do you have any idea at all how bad you scared us? I oughta-" Tenten suddenly found herself kissing Neji, and completely forgot what she was angry about within moments. Everyone but the two sweatdropped and turned to Lee, who shrugged.

"This is new to me, too." He said, causing everyone's eyes to bug out. "What?"

Awhile later, after Neji was threatened with castration by Tenten and all was explained, the entire group, including Otoha, Yurine, and Amefuriko, were found walking the streets of the shopping district, laughing and enjoying themselves.

"So Bro, how exactly did you become a Karas? I'm curious." Naruto asked Otoha, who looked at his partner. Yurine simply shrugged and nodded.

"... I died." Otoha said simply.

"Hold on a minute, you said you _died_? Then how the hell are you here?" Hinata demanded. Otoha smiled thinly.

"Yurine is a unique spirit. Though she is incapable of participating directly in combat, she has the ability to empower others with incredible fighting power. However..." Otoha trailed off, his smile turning into a frown as he reminisced. "You have to die or go into a coma before she can even do anything. At that time, if she deems you worthy, Yurine will draw you to a separate plane of existence and forge a covenant with the spirit, and thus is a Karas born." The ninja surrounding the three looked fascinated with Otoha's explanation. "A Karas has one task, and only one: A Karas must defend the stability of their city. If the humans of the city die, so too will the Youkai- and vice-versa. A Karas is tasked with preventing this." At this, Shino spoke up.

"If that is the case, and you are a Karas... What happens to your city now?" He asked.

"The city will create a new Yurine, who will, in turn, find a new Karas. The Yurine is the spirit of the city given form. The only way to truly eliminate a city's Karas is to kill the Yurine. The only way to truly kill a Yurine is to destroy the Spirit of the City. The only way to destroy the Spirit of the City is to wipe out all Youkai. The only way to destroy all Youkai is to exterminate all humans in the city. The only way to exterminate all humans in the city is to defeat and destroy the Karas." Yurine stated. "Do you understand?" Naruto stared.

"As screwed up as that all sounds... it somehow makes sense." Naruto said, then shook himself and turned to Hinata. "Tenshi-chan, I've gotta go check up on Nii, you want to come with?" He asked Hinata. She smiled and nodded. Naruto smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, before taking her hand and starting towards the hospital.

* * *

**Konoha Hospital**

Naruto and Hinata walked up to the receptionist's desk, still holding hands, and laughing about a joke that Naruto cracked. When they approached, the receptionist looked up and smiled brightly.

"Uzumaki-kun! What can I do for you today?" she asked cheerfully.

"I'm just here to visit someone, Kira-chan. Could you tell me where Nii Yugito's room is located?" Naruto asked, just as cheery. Kira looked up Yugito, and looked back up at Naruto.

"Room 347, Uzumaki-kun. She's been cleared to go, but she wanted to wait for you first. Is she a second girlfriend, by any chance?" Kira teased. Naruto turned red.

"KIRA-CHAN!" he nearly screamed in embarrassment. "I just met her a week ago! There's no way we could be together already!" Naruto turned away, still blushing crimson, and nearly dragged Hinata away from the desk. "Thanks, Kira-chan!" he called back to her as he and Hinata hurried away.

* * *

Yugito sat in her room, staring out the open window as she thought about what had led up to her abandoning Kumo. It wasn't the Raikage himself- far from it, he and Kirabi were the best family anyone could ask for... but they couldn't always be around. No, it was their utter powerlessness to help her that had led to her decision to leave Kumo.

The Raikage, E, and his brother Kirabi had caught her sneaking out of her home two weeks ago when she had attempted to leave,and asked her what was going on.

Yugito had so desperately wanted to lie through her teeth, to tell them that she was merely leaving for a mission and would be back in a couple of weeks... But she couldn't. Her surrogate brothers knew her too well; they knew when she was lying, and when something was bothering her, so she steeled herself and spilled everything. How the Council wanted to abuse her body and make her a sex slave, how most of the civilians hated her, despite how they revered and loved Kirabi, how the male civilian population continually attempted to subdue and rape her... She simply couldn't take any more of the abuse, hatred, and attempts to rape her, so she decided to leave.

E and Kirabi had reluctantly given their beloved surrogate sister a three-day head start before sending the Lightning Strike after her.

As soon as Yugito had left the gates of Kumo, she had immediately set off in the direction of Konoha, remembering stories of how their Jinchuuriki was a kind-hearted, caring young man who always thought of others before himself, and decided that he was her likeliest chance for safety. She had been about twenty miles away from Konoha after nearly a week of hard travel before they had caught up and driven her to the ground. Then... _he_ had arrived.

She'd heard the stories, of course.

The Yondaime. A cold, evil man who would kill without so much as a second thought. A loving, gentle man who would protect the innocent no matter his own injuries.

How he had single-handedly turned the entire war between Iwa and their allies in favor of Konoha and their allies... with a single Jutsu.

Yes, hearing the stories was one thing.

_Seeing_ him was another altogether.

His mere _presence_ was nearly enough to make her breath catch in her throat. He exuded an aura of confidence and warmth that had made her tingle, and his eyes... She could feel herself getting lost in those beautiful azure orbs. Yugito shook her head and laughed to herself.

_'It's pretty funny how much Naruto-sama looks like the Yondaime. He even had _me_ fooled. The looks that must have been on their faces must've been priceless when he told us that he wasn't the Yondaime... I wonder if they're related somehow? They have to be- they look almost identical!'_ She thought. Almost as if on cue, the door opened to admit the blonde who was on her thoughts and another girl, who looked quite smitten with him, making Yugito's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly with a strange feeling that she couldn't quite recognize before Naruto spoke to her.

"Oi, Yugito-san, genkidesu ka? They said that you're well enough to leave, are you ready?" Naruto asked, making Yugito's cheeks heat up.

"H-Hai, Naruto-sama..." Yugito said in reply. She started to panic, however, when she saw Naruto's frown.

_'Oh no... Did I say something wrong? Did I _do _something wrong?'_ Yugito thought in a panic. _'Wait... Why am I panicking? It shouldn't matter! ... Should it...?'_

"Yugito-san, you don't have to call me 'sama' you know. Just Naruto-san would be alright. So calm down, will ya? C'mon, let's get you to Granny Tsunade and get you situated. Why were you running from Kumo, anyways?" Naruto said, surprising Yugito.

"Ah, um... I-I mean, Na-Naruto-sama, I feel... That it's-" The blonde girl flinched when Naruto yelled at her.

"NO NO NO! Why are you stuttering? You were totally fine last time I saw you! What happened? Talk normally or not at all!" Naruto said, making Hinata and Yugito giggle.

"Hai... Naruto-sama."

"And what did I tell you about calling me 'Naruto-sama'? No 'sama' dammit!"

"Hai, Naruto-teishu... I came to escape from Kumo because of how I was treated there, and I chose to pledge myself to you in exchange for sanctuary from Kumo's Hunter-nin..." Yugito said shyly. Naruto arched an eyebrow.

"C'mon," he said as he moved to the windowsill, "let's finish discussing this on the way to Tsunade-obaa." With that, Naruto leaped off over the rooftops, Hinata and Yugito following close behind him.

* * *

Tsunade groaned and rubbed her eyes, glaring heatedly at the stacks of paperwork on her desk. When she had left to watch the fight between Kiba and Naruto, there had been only half a stack. Now it seemed like that amount had quadrupled in the time she'd been gone.

Where the hell did it keep coming from?

Thankfully, a reprieve came in the form of Naruto, Hinata, and the girl from Kumo, who had refused to speak to anyone but Naruto, jumping in her window.

"Naruto-dono, are you sure we should be just jumping in through the window? Shouldn't we-" The Kumo girl was saying. Naruto rolled his eyes and Tsunade chuckled.

"Relax, Yugito, I do this all the time! She's more like a grandmother or a sister to me than anything else. Hey Baa-chan." Naruto replied as he led the two girls through the window.

"G-good evening, Hokage-sama..."

"Hi, Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade chuckled at their antics and brushed her paperwork aside.

"What can I do for you three today?" Tsunade asked, folding her hands and resting her chin on them. Naruto was the one to speak up.

"Obaa-chan, Yugito-chan needs a place to stay, and could we get her instated as a Kunoichi of Leaf while we're at it?" Yugito stared in awe at how he could speak in such a blatantly disrespectful manner to the Hokage, the _Hokage_, of all people, and not be nailed for insubordination- in fact, the Hokage seemed to find it amusing!

"I think you've got more than enough room in your estate, don't you?" Tsunade said, a smirk on her face as she watched Naruto stare cluelessly at her. "I gave you a set of keys and a map on your birthday, didn't I? Haven't you moved into your parents' house yet? And as for our friend here, what rank were you in Kumo?" Tsunade asked.

"I-I was a J-Jounin, Hokage-sama." Naruto frowned again as Yugito spoke, and held up a hand before Tsunade could say anything. Tsunade smiled, laughing to herself, as did Hinata as Naruto turned to Yugito with a scowl on his face. "N-Naruto-s-sama?" Naruto gave her a light slap on the cheek.

"What did I tell you about stuttering? No stuttering!" he said.

"B-but, Naruto-sa-" Yugito started to say before Naruto cut her off.

"No stuttering, no honorifics, dammit! If you wanna pledge yourself to me, fine, but you're not gonna treat me like a superior, because I'm not one! Got it? My first order to you, since you insist on serving me, is that you'll treat me like a friend, and you will _not_ stutter while talking to me, or in my presence! Got it?" Naruto ranted.

"Hai... Naruto-san." Yugito said, causing Naruto to sigh.

"I guess that's the best I'm gonna get from you, isn't it?" Tsunade spoke up before Naruto could continue, and Hinata had buried her face in Naruto's shoulder as she laughed her head off.

"Alright, Yugito, We're going to have you go through three exams, a Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu, and see where you stand, alright?" Yugito nodded. "As it stands now, we'll need a few days to decide where to hold this exam, and who to pit you against-"

"I can be her Taijutsu and Ninjutsu opponent, Baa-chan." Naruto piped up. Tsunade nodded.

"Alright, that'll work. As for Genjutsu, we'll put you against Yuuhi Kurenai, as she's our best Genjutsu user in the Village. Unfortunately, I sent her out on a mission a couple of hours ago, so we'll need to wait for her to return before we can test her. For now, you can stay with Naruto in his home. He's got more than enough room." Tsunade stated. Naruto and Yugito nodded nervously- Yugito because she was terrible at using Nin- and Genjutsu without the Nibi, and Naruto because, well... He'd be living in a house with someone other than his Fiance, who was currently giving Yugito a Byakugan-enhanced 'Evil Eye.'

Yep... Naruto's screwed...

* * *

A/N: I think that's long enough for now... And gain, please review! The less reviews I get, the harder it is for me to write, and the longer it takes me to get the chapters done! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE!

Ja ne!

EDIT 11/21/2010: That fight scene sucked, so I thought I'd extend it a bit. Kiba now knows that he's no match for Naruto... or does he?


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